Yes, the "faith-based FEMA" is crucial to the recovery effort after disasters such as Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma.
After deadly tornadoes struck my home state of Oklahoma in 2013, I wrote a piece for Christianity Today on how various Christian groups aided victims based on what each denomination does best.
That story noted the important role of the National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster. National VOAD, as it's known, is an umbrella group for denominational relief agencies and secular charities.
From that story, which is mostly hidden behind a paywall at this point:
National VOAD works to avoid duplication of services by FEMA and faith-based groups—a collaboration that has caused few church-state concerns because no money changes hands, said Robert Tuttle, a George Washington University professor of law and religion.
Fast-forward to this week, and I was pleased to see a national publication highlight the faith-based coordination.
The publication? USA Today.
The reporter? Washington correspondent Paul Singer.
If that name sounds familiar, it's because we interviewed Singer just last week about why he came to the Religion News Association annual meeting in Nashville, Tenn., looking for faith and religion stories.
Singer's piece on faith groups providing the bulk of disaster recovery, in coordination with FEMA, is a good one: