(Left) Bishop Hee-Soo Jung, president of UMCOR’s board of directors, during Global Ministries’ semi-annual meeting in New York City.
LINDA UNGER
General Bd of Global Ministries
April 20, 2015—During their semiannual meeting, the board of directors of the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR), meeting in the organization’s 75th year, approved more than $7 million in grants for ongoing disaster response and longer-term development needs. Among them was a grant providing funding to support long-term flood recovery in Detroit.
Bishop Hee-Soo Jung, president of the board, said the directors’ decisions demonstrated the “depth and consistency of commitment of UMCOR and the entire United Methodist Church to those who are most vulnerable to disaster and adversity.”
Of the total approved by the board, $3.5 million is earmarked for a disaster risk reduction initiative in the Philippines, where in 2013, a historic storm caused catastrophic damage and exposed the urgent need for increased disaster preparedness.
Working with municipalities in the areas most impacted by Super Typhoon Haiyan and contracting with local and international partners, UMCOR will fund the construction of 10 community storm shelters over the next year and provide training in disaster planning and preparedness.
U.S. disaster response gets boost
The board also approved funding to support long-term recovery in Washington state and Detroit, Michigan, which experienced devastating fires and floods, respectively, in 2014. UMCOR has been working with the Pacific Northwest, Detroit and California-Pacific conferences since last year to address needs stemming from these events. The new funds will support disaster case management, home rebuilding and other needs related to the fires and floods.
Funds also will go to a California-based program to help United Methodist congregations welcome and support unaccompanied migrant children. Funds for “You Are Not Alone” will help local churches become welcome centers for some of the thousands of children who have fled violence in their Central American homelands and come to the U.S. for refuge.
The board also approved $300,000 for partner Church World Service’s refugee resettlement work in the United States.
Support for Haiti
A new grant of more than $1.3 million will advance reconstruction of New College Bird, a school in the Methodist Church of Haiti education system and one of the top schools in the nation. It was severely damaged in the 2010 earthquake in Haiti.
UMCOR also will continue to support partner Beyond Borders, as it works with Haitian organizations to address underlying causes of the practice of restavèk—akin nowadays to child slavery. Restavèk is rooted in rural poverty. With funds from UMCOR, Beyond Borders will improve access and quality of primary education for children and livelihoods for their parents in Haiti’s southeast.
Last Updated on February 2, 2024