• ALM Divisional EDS Department

Disaster Management Students Visit The Salvation Army EDS Center

Jackson, MS (11-14-2014) - Disaster Management students from Ohio Christian University (OCU) in Circleville, Ohio visited the Emergency Disaster Services center in Jackson Thursday.  The students are in route to the International Association of Emergency Managers conference in San Antonio, TX, but decided to swing through Jackson to get an up-close look at faith-based emergency response activities in the field.  The ALM EDS Director, Thad Hicks was the former Disaster Management Program director at Ohio Christian University.

The Disaster Management and Relief Program at Ohio Christian University was one of the first Evangelical Christian colleges or universities to offer such a degree.  The program at OCU was designed to train students to build, sustain, and improve their capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, and recover from all hazards, natural & man-made through a Christian worldview lenses.  Graduates of this program are trained to serve humanity at all stages of the emergency management cycle.

Ohio Christian University students were able to tour the ALM EDS facility, get first-hand accounts of the work, as well as walk through, and “play on” some of the equipment.  As an organization that values emergency management higher education, The Salvation Army is very interested in the qualified disaster directors coming out of programs such as Ohio Christian University.  The future of faith-based disaster response is in the hands of these individuals.    

Many of the students in The Disaster Management program at OCU plan to use the knowledge they gain in the program for ministry with organizations like The Salvation Army.  Disaster Management student, Dustin Hube, advised, “Direct experience dealing with Christian disaster organizations is invaluable as we look to our futures.”  

The Salvation Army

The Salvation Army, an evangelical part of the universal Christian church established in London in 1865. Nearly 30 million Americans receive assistance from The Salvation Army each year through the broadest array of social services that range from providing food for the hungry, relief for disaster survivors, assistance for the disabled, outreach to the elderly and ill, clothing and shelter to the homeless, and opportunities for underprivileged children. 82 cents of every dollar The Salvation Army spends is used to support those services in 5,000 communities nationwide.

For more information on The Salvation Army’s Emergency Disaster Services work, and how you might be able to help, please go to www.disaster.salvationarmyusa.org.