News & Stories / Humanitarian Relief and Recovery (UMCOR)

News & Stories

Humanitarian Relief and Recovery (UMCOR)

Learn how your support of humanitarian relief and recovery efforts help to alleviate human suffering through migration, agriculture, environmental sustainability and disaster relief programs worldwide.

The United Methodist Committee on Relief, through the World Hunger and Poverty Advance, awarded a grant in August 2024 to the Rural Women’s Development Society in the West Bank, the seventh in as many years. This project provides women with livelihoods, access to vocational training, business mentorship and a living wage in areas that have over 30% unemployment.

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In eastern Congo, a thriving farm funded through the Yambasu Agriculture Initiative combines vegetable, pig and fish farming to strengthen local food security and generate sustainable income for the community and the church.
U.S. churches nationwide are using Direct Pay funding for solar conversion, but the program is about to drastically change.
Africa University and Global Ministries partner to support vital agriculture and public health initiatives put at risk after withdrawal of international aid.
World Refugee Day reminds us of our personal, scriptural and theological roots to affirm and welcome refugees seeking safety today.
A June 5 opinion piece in United Methodist Insight titled “New U.S. Travel Ban Will Harm the United Methodist Church” raises concerns about the potential impact of the travel ban on the worldwide church.
Through two key partnerships with the Immigration Law and Justice Network and Church World Service, UMCOR addresses urgent humanitarian needs.
As U.S. government support for Ukraine decreases, directors of UMCOR and Global Ministries approve grants that help fill some gaps and ease uncertainty.
"It was a chaotic time. Nobody knew what was happening! The war started, people were dying, and our main purpose was our family’s safety." —Pavlo Osypenko of Life Spring UMC in Kyiv

Contact Information

Have questions? Send us an inquiry and we’ll get back to you promptly. Please direct all media inquiries to Susan Clark, chief communications officer for Global Ministries and UMCOR.

General Inquiries

Media Inquiries

Susan Clark, Chief Communications Officer
media@umcmission.org
800-862-4246

UMCOR Campaigns

Six Years, No Solution: A 500-Gallon Tank Carries Hope to West Virginia’s Forgotten

McDowell County is one of the poorest in the U.S., and the communities of Anawalt, Leckie and Gary are some of the hardest hit by the current six-year water crisis. All have Methodist churches that are part of the Welch Charge.

To ease the burden of residents who have to purchase many gallons of drinking water weekly, the Welch Charge contacted the West Virginia Conference Disaster Response Coordinator, Jim McCune, for help. McCune’s United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) connection put him in touch with Global Ministries’ Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) program. 

A WASH grant allowed them to obtain a 500-gallon “water buffalo.” The conference disaster response team arranged to fill the portable water buffalo from the Welch water system, the county seat of McDowell, and transport it to Gary, where residents have been supplied with refillable containers. Residents of all three towns can come to get water, and volunteers will also continue deliveries for those who need it. Meanwhile, residents, including church members, continue to advocate state and local officials for a permanent solution to their aging, compromised water infrastructure. Full Story