COGIC Charities, Inc.
THREE YEARS LATER……
Three years after Katrina and Rita, the people of New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast are yet determined to rebuild their lives. Elder George Murray, Katrina and Rita site coordinator, Dr. David Hall, CEO of the Whole Truth Magazine and Editor of the COGIC Digest, and Elder John W. Penton, executive director of COGIC Charities went to the Gulf Coast in May 2008 to collect data and hear the concerns of the pastors. Host Bishop Gerald Hawkins and his staff provided transportation for COGIC Charities to see the various churches in the New Orleans area and the coastal Mississippi area. Bishop Hawkins showed great leadership rallying the pastors together to receive COGIC Charities for its reassessment mission.
COGIC Charities knew going in that some of the pastors were experiencing uncertainties and voiced concerns about what kind of help the organization would provide in addition to Phase 1 and Phase 2 of the reconstruction and community assistance grants. The pastors were thankful for the assistance they received from COGIC Charities, but they expressed disappointment of how long it took for them to receive the grants that had been reissued by the Charity. COGIC Charities reassured them that the delayed response was not an indication that COGIC Charities did not care.
After three years, there were very little signs of any major renovations in the commercial or residential areas of the cities that were visited. Many of the homes and churches were uninhabitable. Although, churches were yet in bad condition, there were signs that indicated many hours of labor were put in the removal and cleaning of the debris around the properties. Progress was being made at very slow pace due the lack of funds to complete the tasks. After this period of time, many would think that the Pastors would be discouraged. However that was not the case, it was evident from the testimonies that the pastors took Romans 8:28 to heart, because everyone used the theme of that scripture to encourage themselves during the most devastating tragedy that they had experienced.
COGIC Charities went to the Gulf Coast area to gather information on what it would take to rebuild the physical structure called the “church”. After talking with the pastors and hearing their determination to rebuild their homes of worship and after seeing the passion they displayed to overcome any obstacle that could impede their progress, the Charity discovered that the “church” did not need rebuilding, because it is not brick and mortar. The church could not ever be destroyed. Yes, buildings were destroyed by the raging wind and the powerful floods of Katrina and Rita, but it did not destroy the courage of the pastors. There were many heroic testimonies of life-saving efforts of pastors who lost their home and church. In fact, the charity received data from 119 pastors from the coastal region.
It is important to note that the church at large responded overwhelmingly to the needs of the victims of Katrina and Rita. The amount of in-kind donations such as food, clothing and shelter assistance were in the millions of dollars. COGIC Charities attempted to capture the in-kind contributions from the various jurisdictions. It was the Charities’ attempt to answer the question: How was the Church Of God In Christ assisting its members and others? The Charity responded with passion and urgency to the needs of its brothers and sisters in Christ during this most difficult time. Church Of God In Christ members that were victims of Katrina and Rita received additional funding from the Clinton and Bush Foundation, World Vision and other philanthropic organizations. Even though these contributions from other organizations were not considered to be directly from the benevolent arm of the Church Of God In Christ, it was the collaborative work behind the scenes of the late Bishop G.E. Patterson, Bishop Roy Winbush, Bishop James Macklin, Bishop George McKinney and Bishop P.A. Brooks to make this a reality.
COGIC Charities is a separate 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization that is registered as a public foundation. In order to be in compliance with all government regulations, charities must file annual reports of the activities of the organization. These reports are a matter of public record. Therefore, all monies received and dispersed can be validated by the annual report.
The purpose of the visit to the coastal areas is to make assessment for the distribution of the remaining funds from the Katrina community grants. Elder George Murray, the Katrina site coordinator presented in a more detailed report to the board of directors of COGIC. charities. The following is an excerpt from the interim report, submitted by elder George Murray:
PHASE I
Phase I consisted of allocating $250,000 in Ministry continuation grants to local passes in the hurricane Katrina and Rita impacted areas. Each pastor was eligible to receive a continuation grant of one thousand five hundred dollars ($1,500). Of the $250,000 budgeted for this purpose, 164 pastors were recommended for consideration, and 108 pastoral Ministry grants were issued with 56 pastoral Ministry continuation grant remaining to be allocated.
PHASE II
Phase II of our churches response consisted of the offering of church reconstruction and assistance grants varying from $1,000 to $3,500 and were to be issued to the churches based on need, application, analysis, inspection and verification of damages. In phase II, the general board recommended an allocation of $350,000 for the church reconstruction assistance grants with damage categories as follows: moderate, major and catastrophic.
PHASE III
Phase III of our churches assistance and recovery strategies. We issued many grants to the needy, destitute and unemployed in the recovery zones. These grants were to given through the local churches.
Distribution Summary
Total distribution to date |
|
|
*597,100 |
|
Phase I |
162,000 |
|
|
Phase II |
245,000 |
|
|
Phase III |
190,100 |
|
Total |
|
597,100 |
|
*This is the actual amount that was distributed. Some grants are pending distribution because some of the checks were returned due to incorrect addresses. Since this article, most of those checks have been received.
COGIC Charities has learned many lessons from the Katrina and Rita crisis. There have been many recommendations by the hurricane Katrina Rita response committee to make the charity more efficient and effective in serving its members in times of crisis. One major recommendation that stood out was to have an emergency response team in every jurisdiction to be prepared before a tragedy happens, thus providing an immediate and comprehensive response to the critical needs of the people in each jurisdiction.
The purpose of COGIC Charities is true to its mission statement: The mission of COGIC Charities is to provide support globally to communities and to award educational scholarships, thereby positively impacting humanity.
Thanks to all that have contributed with your time, your talent and your finances to help COGIC Charities positively impact humanity.
