(RNS) More than 1,000 houses of worship will receive grants from the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund to help recover from 2005 hurricane damage on the Gulf Coast.
Fund spokesman Bill Pierce said the number of applications far exceeded expectations. Officials originally expected between 500 and 700 applications.
A total of $25 million of the fund’s $130 million will be distributed to houses of worship, Pierce said. He said between 70 percent and 75 percent of the houses of worship have received their funds and the rest should receive them soon. Most grants have been for $35,000 or $20,000 for physical repairs ranging from water damage to ruined steeples.
“Clearly this was overwhelmingly successful in terms of the outreach and the education that was done,” he said Jan. 4.
The fund’s work with religious groups became controversial last summer when the co-chairs of its religious advisory committee resigned after questioning the fund’s financial oversight. Bishop T.D. Jakes, a Dallas megachurch pastor, and the Rev. William H. Gray III, the former president of the United Negro College Fund, said checks were distributed without their knowledge.
Christian churches were the predominant recipients of the grants but Jewish, Muslim and Buddhist congregations also received funding.
The fund is co-chaired by former presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton and aims to help meet long-term recovery needs along the Gulf Coast.
