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Posted: 4/14/16 at 8:30am.
Appomattox County, Va. – April 13, 2016 – As the Appomattox Long Term Recovery Committee continues its work to assess and finance rebuilding projects throughout the county, a new position will help ensure those projects are completed.
Kristen Curtis, a resident of Appomattox, will serve as Volunteer Coordinator in a position supported by the Baptist General Association of Virginia through Virginia Baptist Disaster Response.
“Our teams were some of the first to arrive in Appomattox following the tornadoes,” said Aaron Lee, Disaster Response Coordinator, “and it is important for us to continue walking alongside the community for the long haul. Supporting this position is one way we can offer continued assistance to the community’s rebuilding efforts.”
Alongside casework, fiscal management, construction coordination and spiritual care on the committee, this position will ensure volunteers are matched with appropriate tasks to help residents continue the rebuilding process. Adam Tyler, pastor of Grace Hills Baptist Church in Appomattox and second Vice President of the BGAV, currently serves as chair of this committee.
“Her effort will help our community match committed volunteers with residents who are in need in the aftermath of the February tornado,” says Tyler. “Kristen is already a great ambassador for Virginia Baptists.”
Curtis has served alongside staff and volunteers as a consultant and program coordinator, and she co-wrote a proposal resulting in a $2 million grant from the Lilly Endowment to begin the Resource Center for Pastoral Excellence at Samford University.
“I am excited,” Curtis says, “to help my neighbors in Appomattox rebuild their homes and find a ‘new normal’ after the terrible destruction they experienced.”
Curtis and her husband, Scott, moved to Appomattox in 2015, and both have been active in disaster relief efforts following the February tornadoes.
“Generous donations from Virginia Baptists following these tornadoes will allow us to complete projects in Appomattox and Essex counties and the town of Waverly,” says Lee. “And the ongoing support of disaster response through cooperative giving and regular donations allows us to supplement those donations with funding for this Volunteer Coordinator position.”
Virginia Baptist Disaster Response is an active volunteer arm of the Baptist General Association of Virginia, responding to disasters through official channels in Virginia and around the country. In 2015, volunteers contributed more than 2,800 hours responding to disasters in Virginia, Maryland, Arkansas and South Carolina.
The Baptist General Association of Virginia (BGAV) is a cooperative missions and ministry organization that consists of over 1,400 autonomous churches in the Commonwealth of Virginia, as well as churches from Seoul, South Korea, Toronto, Ontario, the District of Columbia, and the states of California, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and West Virginia.