The damage Casinos do to our communities

Relief Efforts for Tornado stricken West Liberty, Kentucky

Dr. Lon Oliver, Executive Director of Kentucky Appalachian Ministries and Associate Regional Minister for District 10 and 11(Eastern Kentucky), telephoned the church on Tuesday to thank us for our support of the initial relief to the community of West Liberty, Kentucky.  He has been visiting the shelters and collaborating with other agency directors as they pull together resources to help in the ongoing relief that may well take years.  One of the stories he shared with me was the image of a husband, wife and their children that were living in an area just big enough for a few cots.  The husband was making his way to work for the day and the mother was planning the day’s activities with her small children in area not much larger than the average bathroom. 

This far, our congregation has sent $600 in emergency grants to Kentucky Appalachian Ministries to purchase kerosene for older residents with no power or heat.  An additional $370 was sent to Week of Compassion who is working in partnership with KAM.  Thus far this week our congregation has received an additional $3,000 that will go to KAM’s continued relief effort.

What is next?  For many, the relief effort is frustrating as emergency workers are still doing initial assessment and managing the critical necessities of the survivors.  As the heads of these relief agencies have collaborated, they have wisely divided up responsibilities on which each group is able to focus.  Over the next few weeks, FEMA will provide trailers for long term temporary housing.  Rev. Greg Alexander and our Regional staff will be coordinating mission relief teams to head to the area in the months to come to help with clean up and repair of homes.  In turn, Lon has called together KAM congregations in partnership to help in the long term recovery. FCC-Ashland is partnering with FCC-Morehead to help with home needs.  Our two congregations will join with the Disciple congregations in West Liberty to hold a furniture and home drive to help furnish the FEMA trailers.  FCC-Ashland will be gathering bedroom and kitchen needs and FCC-Morehead will be handling bathroom and personal hygiene items.  Of course, we will receive any gently used furniture or kitchen supplies that we will take to one of the congregations in the West Liberty area for families with insurance or Red Cross certification.  The details of what exactly we will need will be discussed at a meeting with KAM and the minister of FCC-Morehead tentatively scheduled for March 22.  Our target date for the giveaway will be the middle to late April. 

I understand our initial impulse is to rush and do as much as possible today and our financial gifts are making that response possible.  However, in true Disciple ethos, we will not only be some of the first on the ground, we will also be the last to leave.  This relief effort will be a long term mission.  We will keep you informed as our elders, deacons and Outreach Department will be working with both the critical needs and the long term efforts in helping folks, like the family Lon told us about, to rebuild their lives.  There will be opportunities for all of you to be an integral part in this process. Thank you for all you are already doing!

From a sister Church: Peachtree Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) Atlanta, Georgia

I Will Make You Fishers of Men from Peachtree Christian Church on Vimeo.

Gambling on Kentucky's Future

The Legislators of our great Commonwealth are about to lay a heavy burden on the shoulders of the voters throughout Kentucky.  They are asking us to make a decision that could well lead to the expansion of gambling without the information explaining the actual costs and impact on our communities.  In recent years, the United States Government has received at least 36 separate reports on the impact of gambling in urban and rural casinos as well as racetrack casinos.  In every one of those studies, implementing specific procedures and guidelines were essential in moderating the negative effects of gambling.  The indictment in each study accepts that there is indeed a negative economic impact and community consequences to gambling that must be factored into the procedures for implementation.  To name only a few, the studies reported a near doubling of filings for bankruptcy, chronic addiction to gambling and domestic violence. Divorce rates in areas with legalized gambling increased by a third and ironically, areas with legalized gambling also saw a significant increase in illegal gambling.  The effects are more significant with destination casinos in rural communities.

The reports also cited that only when state legislators clearly outline a financial agreement with casino owners on how much money will remain in state, used for infrastructure projects such as roads and schools, employment requirements for quotas of in state versus out of state workers, benefit packages for employees, increased investment in law enforcement services and investment in social service agencies that will be forced to handle the added strain of addiction counseling, domestic violence and homelessness, are the effects moderated.  Unfortunately any such details as pertaining to the issue of expanded gambling in Kentucky are, at present, not readily available, making our job as voters all the more difficult.

In all fairness, some of the studies did report initial increased cash flow to state and local governments.  Unfortunately, the long term benefits of the increased revenue were almost universally unrealized as money was soon redirected to social service agencies and law enforcement.

I don’t understand how we can be expected to make an informed decision without the full details of how the expansion of gambling will be realized.  Even if we did have the details, does it make sense to clear the way for an industry that has, in every single case, negatively impacted the social fabric of the communities in which they did business?  Unfortunately, even in those communities where money was made available to help victims of domestic violence, it was little consolation to the wife and children that were presently homeless and victims of a broken family. This situation is not the creative summary from yet another religious leader and opponent of the expansion of gambling, it is the known and observed result of every independent study on the issue. If we must vote, let us vote. However, urge your legislators to provide specifics before we open Pandora’s Box. Frankly, the impact of this issue on my son’s future, the future of this community and our Commonwealth is not “a gamble” I am willing to take.