As the Smoky Mountain resort towns of Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge continue to recover from devastating wildfires, a $5,000 HEART (Humanitarian Emergency Aid for Rebuilding Tomorrow) Fund grant from the national Woman’s Missionary Union (WMU) and WMU Foundation will assist artisans and other workers struggling because of the decline in tourism.
The wildfires that swept through the region in late November and early December 2016 came at the beginning of the busy Christmas tourist season. As a result many who make their living in arts and crafts, service, retail and other tourism-related enterprises lost their homes and jobs.
The needs of these workers are still great, said Vickie Anderson, executive director of Tennessee WMU.
“The decline in tourism is causing reduced hours, layoffs and loss of jobs. Also a lower income housing shortage in Gatlinburg has gotten worse since the wildfires, which means that many workers are having to relocate to Pigeon Forge and beyond,” Anderson said.
Many of the workers did not have cars because they could walk to work from their homes in Gatlinburg. Others lost their cars in the fires. The lack of reliable transportation coupled with the housing shortage has resulted in increased homelessness in the area.
“The homeless population is growing because monthly costs in housing and transportation are increasing drastically for so many,” Anderson said.
Those most affected are people who work in hotels, restaurants, entertainment attractions and shops. Gatlinburg businesses employ many temporary and international guest workers who are ineligible for other forms of assistance.
The HEART Fund grant will be distributed through Smoky Mountain Resort Ministries (SMRM) to help workers with transportation, housing and transitional needs as they rebuild their lives after the fires. As “boots on the ground” in Gatlinburg, SMRM personnel are ministering through the relationships they have developed through many years of faithful service, Anderson said.
A $5,000 HEART Fund grant awarded in December 2016 allowed SMRM volunteers to give out gift cards to help fire victims with immediate needs. However, relief funds have slowed dramatically since the beginning of the year, said SMRM Director Bill Black.
‘Needs have not stopped’
“Our income has almost stopped in terms of money for helping those affected by the fires but the needs have not stopped,” Black said. “We remain deep in this holy and painfully beautiful fire ministry.”
The HEART Fund was created in response to Sept. 11, 2001. Grants allow Christians to provide relief and rebuilding assistance as they minister to disaster victims in the United States and around the world. (WMU)
The WMU Foundation is accepting donations to the HEART Fund for disaster relief online at wmufoundation.com or by mail to WMU Foundation HEART Fund, 100 Missionary Ridge, Birmingham, AL 35242.
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