Welcome to the Indiana Southern Baptist Disaster Relief Mission
ORIGINS
Southern Baptist Disaster Relief (SBDR) originated in 1966 by the Texas Baptists when they were able to assist with the Disaster Relief efforts in the Rio Grande Valley and Northern Mexico caused by Hurricane Beulah. Over time more and more states began participating to create what we now know as SBDR.
TODAY
Today SBDR is operated under the umbrella of the North American Mission Board (NAMB) which is part of Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). There are 43 separate State Conventions participating in SBDR.
There are approximately 82000 certified (trained) volunteers representing 1583 different units.
Indiana has 350+ volunteers with 7 Recovery (chainsaw, mud-out, rebuild) Units, 2 Incident Command Units, 2 Shower / Laundry Units. Indiana is in the process of purchasing a Quick Response Feeding Unit.
West Central Baptist Association has a Recovery Unit (RC0012) and Shower / Laundry Unit (SH002). These units are stationed in Greencastle at New Life Baptist Church.
WHAT IS A DISASTER?
An occurrence that causes human suffering or creates human needs that the survivors
cannot alleviate without assistance. A disaster normally affects more than one person.
Types of Disaster Response:
First Response – typically immediate to 3 days
Recovery – after 3 days to several weeks
Long Term Recovery – after several weeks to years
DISASTER SERVICES
First Response – rapid response units to scene of disaster, self sufficient for 3 days to a week
Damage Assessment – detailed assessment of needs of recovery, tracked within Form Stack
Storm Recovery – typically meaning Chainsaw work
Flood Recovery – typically meaning Mud Out
Debris Clean Up – associated with Chainsaw work or Mud Out
Host Church – provide location for Disaster Relief Site or for Traveling Volunteers
Incident Command – tasked with running a Disaster Relief Site
Counseling / Chaplaincy – tasked with counselling to disaster victims as well as assessing unmet needs
Child / Elder Care – watching of children / elder parents of disaster victims
Feeding – tasked with feeding of relief volunteers or the disaster victims
Shower / Laundry – tasked with maintaining shower / laundry units
Water Purification – in cases where local water source is contaminated, provide a limited amount of Potable water
Rebuild – Usually long term disaster relief (Indiana completed rebuilding a home for an elder couple in Bremen, Indiana)
LEVELS OF RESPONSE
Local Church – New Life Baptist Church
Association – West Central Baptist Association
Regional – 3 Indiana Regions. Northern, Central, Southern
State / National
International – International Mission Board (IMB, Send Relief)
LEVELS OF LEADERSHIP (HATS)
Yellow – Certified Volunteer
Blue – Team Leader
White – Incident Commander of a site or State Director
CONTACT DISASTER RELIEF
WCBA Blue Hat Team Leaders
Todd Branson – New Life Baptist Church, Greencastle, IN 765-720-5748 tbranson@tds.net
Keith Royer – Faith Southern Baptist Church, Clay City, IN 812-236-0457 royerknel@gmail.com
Southern Indiana Coordinator
Don Morris – Vernon Baptist Church, North Vernon, IN 812-592-4702 hunt4thelost@gmail.com
Central Indiana Coordinator
Joe Fox – Old Town Hill Baptist Church, Muncie, IN 765-729-1366 josephfox1960@yahoo.ocm
Northern Indiana Coordinator, Assistant State Director
Dennis Smith – Argos, IN 574-780-5157 dennysmithpbc@gmail.com
State Director
Butch Porter – Eckerty, IN 618-499-2215 bporter@scbi.org