SOS! In case of emergency.
You've had a disaster. Now what? Click button at left.
Questions?
Dan OMalley
Disaster Response Coordinator
dano.omalley@gmail.com
616-915-6301
Training Events & Upcoming Opportunities
Michigan Conference Emergency Response Basic Training (ERT)
*Must attend all sessions to be certified.
**If you have not taken a class in THREE YEARS you are no longer certified and must retake the basic training.
7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Virtual training via Zoom
111 Church St.
Midleville, MI 49333
Cost: $35. Print materials are provided.
Gaylord Disaster Recovery
The Michigan Conference is actively involved in providing recovery for this community following the tornado on May 20th. The deadly tornado took the lives of 2 and injured 44, there is also significant property damage.
Michigan is ready to respond
Tornadoes, floods, hurricanes, earthquakes, famine; anything that disrupts people’s lives and places life at risk, calls us to be the compassionate hands and feet of Jesus Christ. The Michigan Disaster Response Team works year round to prepare, plan and equip teams so we can respond when disaster strikes.
Learn how you can help without hurting the response process and then see updates on response projects we are involved with.
Four ways you can help with disasters.
1. Pray
We are called to pray, organize prayer groups and chains and bathe those in need in prayers of peace, God’s abundant Grace, wholeness and safety for those affected and those there to help.2. Give
While our immediate compassionate instinct is to send food, clothing and household items in times of crisis, we recognize that often causes more harm than good. In the initial crisis phase, there is no more flexible, reliable and effective response than a financial gift to the United Methodist Committee on Relief, where 100% goes directly to aid, UMCOR Sunday.
3. Donate
Preparedness. We assemble thousands of flood clean-up buckets and personal hygiene kits during the year, so when disaster strikes, we are able to load them on trucks and get them to the right place in days. Working with other annual conferences, we keep centralized response kits ready to go.
4. Volunteer
Michigan coordinates with national, state and local agencies to bring wholeness to disaster zones. Disaster zones are dangerous so our volunteers arrive only after first responders have completed their rescue missions. At the invitation of the affected community our teams move in and often for years following the crisis. To accomplish this we must be trained and prepared. Connect with Dan OMalley, our Disaster Response Coordinator or push the button below to learn about mission opportunities through Volunteers in Mission.
Disaster Response Updates
Conference assessing Gaylord response
As of May 22, 2022, volunteers are asked to stay out of the region surrounding Gaylord, MI. Rescue and recovery by first responders are still underway. Bishop Bard has met with the Michigan Conference Disaster Response Team. A $10,000 grant has been requested from UMCOR. You can help by donating to the Michigan Conference Disaster Response Fund and Bishop Bard has called for prayers for those impacted.
New level for Michigan disaster response
Rev. Paul Perez announces “the creation of an affiliated nonprofit that will scale up The Michigan Conference’s disaster case management services.” Perez continues, “I believe one of the primary tasks of the annual conference is to incubate ministries that no one local church could do on their own and that meet missional needs in local communities. We have now done that with disaster case management.” The ministry is called MiDRR (Michigan Disaster Response and Recovery).