By Rayanne Bennett |Associate Publisher

Looking back on the year that has unfolded since Superstorm Sandy devastated whole communities within the counties he shepherds, Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., remarked, “No bishop could have been prouder of seeing the Gospel come to life in his diocese.”

In his Oct. 29 statement, “The tragedy of the storm and the triumph of the Gospel,” marking the first anniversary of the largest natural disaster on record that has ever hit the mid-Atlantic Region, Bishop O’Connell noted, “Thousands of our parishioners — along with their fellow citizens here in New Jersey and New York — were confronted with such catastrophic loss that no words could even describe the reality that confronted them.”

The bishop recalled the tour he took under State Police escort the day after the storm subsided to visit some of parish sites along the coast, describing what he saw as “gut wrenching and heartbreaking.”

The day after the tour, the bishop had celebrated Mass in St.

Rose Church, Belmar, where there was no heat and only minimal lighting powered by generators. He shared the sense of empathy he felt, embracing scores of parishioners who approached him with tears in their eyes. He said, “I shall never forget that day and I have prayed for those parishioners and all our displaced and devastated sisters and brothers every day since.”

Bishop O’Connell described the massive relief and disaster recovery effort conducted by the diocese and Church-based agencies throughout Ocean and Monmouth Counties, two of the region’s hardest hit areas. He wrote, “The Diocese and its incredible parishes mobilized resources quickly and reached out in love and care for all those whose lives were destroyed, who needed food, water, shelter, clothing and all the basic necessities of life we all take for granted.”

That effort, according to Daughter of Charity Sister Joanne Dress, diocesan executive director for Catholic social services, represented the collaborative effort of people and parishes, not only throughout the diocese, but across the nation. Knowing the full scope of the response on behalf of victims is nearly impossible, Sister Joanne observed, because support came in the form of money, goods and volunteer work in cleaning up, distributing supplies and feeding hungry and cold people.

What she reported is that $1 million was donated to the diocesan-sponsored hurricane relief fund, and distributed to Project Paul in Monmouth County, local St. Vincent de Paul conferences, and parish social concerns groups in the affected areas. Additional donations were collected in parishes and kept for the needs within their own communities most heavily impacted by the storm.

Beyond financial donations, parishes and other groups in the diocese and beyond collected truckloads of emergency supplies and needed goods and shipped them to the affected areas. Troops of volunteers, many of them teens and young adults, came in from far-flung places around the country to help.

Two critical Catholic agencies – St. Francis Community Center on Long Beach Island and Catholic Charities in Lakewood – have been able to offer a spectrum of services for people struggling in the storm’s aftermath, including providing for basic needs, rental and mortgage assistance and disaster case management. An outreach effort launched by Visitation Parish in Brick evolved in Visitation Relief Center, which cobbled together a broad network of services and resources for victims, including site clean-up and restoration. All of these programs were awarded significant grant funding to do their work coming from such sources as the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, the Robin Hood Foundation, Ocean First and FEMA.

While so much has been done, so much more need remains, Sister Joanne stressed. “What we’re hearing from our people in the field is that there is still a need for basic emergency assistance. Many haven’t received insurance payments; some did not get FEMA money or apply for other funding.”

The process, Sister Joanne acknowledges, is complicated and confusing for many. She noted, “Even if they’ve gotten some money and a FEMA number, the flood plains and the building regulations have changed. There are provisions that their homes will have to be raised higher off the ground. Some of these are modest bungalows, but it’s all they have.”

In many instances, particularly with seniors, they were so overwhelmed after the storm that they went to stay with family, away from the coast. Now they are just returning and have no idea of where to start,” Sister Joanne added. The same network that mobilized last year in the most critical days after the storm will continue to serve these ongoing needs to the best of their ability. Sister Joanne stated that the priorities for Catholic Charities and St. Francis Community Center are rental assistance (people still have to pay mortgages and taxes even though they can’t live in their homes); disaster case management (help with negotiating through all the regulations and resources), and counseling for the posttraumatic mental illnesses brought on by the disaster and the ongoing stress.

Sister Joanne advised that all that had been donated to the diocesan Hurricane Relief Fund has been distributed. The diocese has applied for additional grant funding so that the parish-based programs, such as St. Vincent de Paul, have adequate resources to support Sandy-impacted families. She encouraged anyone who would still like to walk with those in need to contribute to the Hurricane Relief Fund, which can be accessed through the diocesan website, dioceseoftrenton.org.

In his Sandy statement, Bishop O’Connell also references the ongoing struggles. He writes, “One year later, people are still suffering. It is my hope and prayer that the passage of time will not diminish our spirits nor keep us from continuing to extend our hands and hearts – Christ’s hands and heart – to those still in need.”


Click here to see message from Bishop David M. O'Connell, C.M.

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