In the Wake of the Storm: the Birth of CRWRC Disaster Response Services

It all began with a storm.

On June 11, 1972, a huge rainstorm dumped 11 inches of rain within a few hours on Rapid City, South Dakota. Flash floods poured through the city. A dam collapsed, sending a wall of water through the streets. More than 300 people died.

Only two months prior to the flood, Neil Molenaar had been appointed as the Christian Reformed World Relief Committee (CRWRC)’s first Domestic Program Director. Molenaar’s role was to train deacons from Christian Reformed Churches (CRC) across North America how to develop and implement community outreach service projects, as well as to develop procedures to assist communities in case of disasters.

It all began with a storm.

On June 11, 1972, a huge rainstorm dumped 11 inches of rain within a few hours on Rapid City, South Dakota. Flash floods poured through the city. A dam collapsed, sending a wall of water through the streets. More than 300 people died.

Only two months prior to the flood, Neil Molenaar had been appointed as the Christian Reformed World Relief Committee (CRWRC)’s first Domestic Program Director. Molenaar’s role was to train deacons from Christian Reformed Churches (CRC) across North America how to develop and implement community outreach service projects, as well as to develop procedures to assist communities in case of disasters.

Still new on the job, and with few instructions, Molenaar was sent to Rapid City as CRWRC’s representative to provide assistance to the flood survivors. He wandered the streets, meeting flood victims and asking for their stories.

“It was after talking with disaster survivors that it became apparent that they needed one-on-one contact and interaction with another person to share and relate what had happened to them on the night of the disaster,” recalls Molenaar.

Molenaar realized that he would not be able to provide enough assistance on his own. He contacted Lou Van Ess, CRWRC’s Executive Director at the time, and asked him to recruit a few volunteers to help. Lou found four couples from Grand Rapids, Michigan who were willing to volunteer: Henry and Jeanette Van Eldren, Dirk and Sharon Pegman, Carl and Jean Kammerad, and Wes and Fran Vryhof.

“These eight volunteers have the honor of being CRWRC’s first volunteers in a newly emerging program known today as Disaster Response Services – or DRS,” said Molenaar.

Molenaar met with the volunteers, recommending that they walk through the streets of Rapid City and engage flood victims in conversation, asking them to share their stories of the disaster. If families had specific needs, the volunteers were tasked with finding resources to address the needs.

Molenaar laughs as he remembers the volunteers’ initial apprehension about his instructions. They were hesitant to strike up random conversations with strangers and were concerned about assessing the needs of flood victims without extensive training.

“They must have thought ‘Neil doesn’t have his head on straight!’” he laughs.

Molenaar insisted that with their Christian upbringing, each of them were well-trained in Jesus’ love. To their surprise, they were all capable of asking questions and listening to the stories of the people of Rapid City.

With Molenaar’s enthusiasm spurring them on, the four couples travelled to Rapid City and began assessing needs. They discovered that families were eager to share their stories. After assessing the needs in the community, the volunteers offered to help by cleaning mud out of homes and purchasing appliances for families. They grew in confidence, and their passion for disaster response work developed.

The Vryhoffs remember how Molenaar’s passion was contagious. “He talked us into going,” they say. “It was hard to turn him down.”

While in Rapid City, Molenaar was reading his Bible during an early morning devotional time when he read Ephesians 2:10, “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Molenaar was moved by the verse and began quoting it regularly as the foundation for his work in disaster response.

After the flood response in Rapid City, Molenaar regularly received calls from church leaders who wanted help responding to disasters. He began to focus on developing a volunteer training program so that members of the CRC across North America would be equipped to respond to natural disasters. In the Fall of 1973, 43 people attended CRWRC’s first Disaster Training Seminar, which then began to be repeated throughout the United States and Canada.

In the first few years that he worked for CRWRC, Molenaar helped to train hundreds of volunteers in emergency disaster response. In 1980, these volunteers began wearing distinctive green t-shirts as they served at disaster sites.

“Neil was out on the field with DRS volunteers when he observed other agencies using varied colors of shirts for their volunteers,” recalled Joyce Boerman, CRWRC-DRS staff member. “He decided that green was a good color since no other organization was using green, since green means ‘go,’ and because he personally liked green.”

Together, these “green shirts,” as they became to be known, have provided assistance after disasters damaged communities in the United States and Canada. Their work includes clean-up after disasters, rebuilding homes, providing counseling and support, and assessing unmet needs. The focus is on building long-term sustainability.

Molenaar remained the Director of CRWRC-DRS from 1972 until 1990.

He commends CRWRC staff and volunteers for taking many risks when he was the Director. “I couldn’t have done it without them,” he says. “They took the risk of trusting this crazy guy! The success of the program is all thanks to them.”

From the beginning, CRWRC-DRS has been marked by excellence as it has been managed by principled, servant-style leadership. Government aid organizations who are members of National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (NVOAD) have honored CRWRC-DRS for effectively addressing the needs of disaster survivors, especially those who are in need of long-term recovery resources.

Today, CRWRC has more than 3,000 short- and long-term volunteers from the CRC, the Reformed Church of America, and other denominations who are trained and ready to respond when disasters strike. Last year through this program, CRWRC assessed the needs of 22,253 disaster survivors, mucked-out 108 homes, and repaired or rebuilt 103 homes. Through its Groups Program, CRWRC-DRS repaired another 441 homes during one- or two-week work trips.

For more information on CRWRC’s Disaster Response Services, visit www.greenshirts.org . Please also look for information in CRCs in the United States on March 4, and across North America throughout 2012.

~ by Beth Terpstra, CRWRC Communications