Local Agency Continues to Help Victims in New York

World Concern
Thursday, 8 November 2001

Seattle - "I knew the look on his face." Jeni Gregory, who went with World Concern partner Northwest Medical Teams to New York, remembers a man sitting alone at the counseling center. Frank was an ironworker who had obviously been impacted by the things that were in the pit. Ironworkers are responsible for cutting the immense girders of the World Trade Center to clear the carnage, and also to free the bodies that are found.

"He looked at me. I touched his arm. It was as if that small act of connection with humanity opened a door into the pain again. He began to cry."

One of the greatest continuing needs in the wake of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Centers is for trauma and grief counseling. In the first couple of weeks after September 11, World Concern responded to this need by partnering with Nyack College and Northwest Medical Teams to provide trauma counseling and financial assistance to students, volunteers and others at need near ground zero.

Now, World Concern is helping to support a ground zero task force of fifty area churches who are caring for those who have lost homes, jobs, or loved ones. World Concern President Paul Kennel said, "Churches in New York understand the community's needs, and are able to help provide counseling to those who might fall through the cracks. World Concern considers it a privilege and a blessing to be able to partner with these churches who are working hard to serve so many during this crisis."

World Concern is also partnering with Northwest Medical Teams to send more trauma counselors to New York during the holiday season, which can be a difficult time for those who are grieving the loss of loved ones.

Seattle-based World Concern is a nonprofit, Christian international relief and development organization. Founded in 1955, World Concern serves over four million poor and oppressed people through more than 93 projects in 27 countries.

For more information, or to contact World Concern, see their website at: www.worldconcern.org