Welcome to the Northwestern Ohio Synod

Lutheran Disaster Response Ohio (LDR Ohio) is a ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod. LSA Ohio (Lutheran Services of America Ohio) is led by a nine-member board with representation from each region, judicatory and social service agencies to implement and monitor the Ohio Preparedness Plan.

Following the November 10th tornadoes that plan was initiated with a meeting of LDR Ohio which appointed a steering committee to monitor the work of the November 10th tornado response activities until completion of the response to victims’ needs.

The following activities will be monitored by the LDR Ohio Steering Committee:

Following the declaration of counties as ‘disaster’ counties by President Bush, the occupants of Hancock, Ottawa, Paulding, Putnam, Seneca, and Van Wert are eligible for federal aid.
Once the county has been declared a disaster, only then can residents apply for federal or state assistance. Such assistance can be obtained by calling 1-800-621-FEMA(3362). If residents have been assisted immediately by the Red Cross, United Way, Salvation Army, or other local groups, they must register with FEMA for assistance to be considered. No funds should be given to any individual until this registration and application has been made – federal and state funding may be jeopardized if private funds have been distributed prior to application.
Residents have 60 days from the date of Nov. 18, 2002 [date when federal eligibility was announced].
Three “fixed recovery centers” are being established to meet the “unmet needs” that were not met by the Red Cross and other groups who are on-site for the first days of an emergency. The centers will be located in Van Wert, Fostoria, and Port Clinton. Lutheran Disaster Response will continue to work in these areas until recovery is complete. Lutheran Disaster Response is responsible for hiring case mangers to ensure that unmet needs are met and managed in an accountable manner.
The Case Managers will be contracted through Lutheran Homes Society. Pastor Rick Ebb of Van Wert is the area liaison between the local community and the Lutheran Disaster Response Steering Committee. Pastor Jim Lehman of Port Clinton serves the same role in that area. They will attend all local long term response meetings and report findings back to the judicatory representatives for Lutheran Disaster Response – Kathleen Lemmerbrock for the Northwestern Ohio Synod ELCA and Pastor Paul Baumann for the Ohio District of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod. Pastor Don Weiss of Lutheran Homes Society is serving as the liaison for communications.
Pastors are encouraged to continue to gather information on long-term needs of families or individuals in their individual contexts. Should you know of people who have needs that have not been addressed encourage them to register with FEMA and take the information for case management follow-up so they can be contacted.
Pastors or congregational members can send their donations to: November 10th Tornado Victim Fund in care of the Northwestern Ohio Synod Office. An accounting of these funds will be posted and distributed as the financial infrastructure is developed. Funds already sent have been placed in a separate account for use only for this purpose. Thank you to all who so generously given.

Should you have questions, feel free to call Pastor Jim Lehman or Kathy Lemmerbrock at the synod office. We will do our best to keep you informed of the activities.