We asked the Rev. Melissa Smith, Holston's Volunteers in Mission coordinator, to answer questions about the Call Center to be established at Bearden United Methodist Church on May 9.

Q: Is the Call Center for Holston-related churches and members only -- or is it a service open to the public?  

A. Primarily it is for the congregations and congregational members of Holston Conference. When appropriate, we are open to responding to needs within any community.

Q. What sorts of needs and help are appropriate for people to seek through the Call Center?

A. The Call Center will be for communities that need help from teams and a connecting piece for teams that want to go serve. We will keep the most updated list of needs and teams serving within this office.

Q. When a person makes a call to the center, how soon can they expect to receive help?

A. We hope to be able to respond to phone calls within 2-3 days. Timing of how soon to expect help is unknown since we are unsure how many teams will choose to respond.

Q. How many Holston teams or individuals are currently trained and prepared to respond, and how many do you hope to train or estimate might be needed?

A. There is no way to tell how many teams are ready to serve. The Conference is asking that each team that responds go through a VIM training session specific for this storm response. These will be scheduled throughout each district.
                                                         
Q. If people want to be trained and to join the VIM effort to help storm victims, what should they do?

A. Call the Call Center Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., at (865) 309-9530 and (865) 309-9563.


For more information, email connectionalministries@holston.org or msmith@fountaincityumc.org.

Return to story: "Holston announces disaster response to April storms"

See also: Holston disaster response page