News & Stories / International Disaster Response

News & Stories

International Disaster Response

Explore how your gifts and our global partnerships connect local churches and communities in mission to alleviate human suffering around the world.

As violence surges and health and safety nets deteriorate across Haiti, UMCOR grants concentrate on those most at risk.

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UMCOR supports host churches and agencies that seek to make temporary shelters into more permanent homes for refugees from Ukraine.
Funds from UMCOR provided food for more than 150 families affected by the deadly storm.
Over 175 people died after torrential rains overflowed the Chibira River in South Kivu. Through UMCOR, local disaster management coordinators in East Congo are supporting relief efforts.
Five hundred of the most vulnerable displaced households in northeastern Congo have received food and other assistance from UMCOR to help purchase 38 tons of food for families who have fled insecurity in the region.
Global Ministries’ and UMCOR’s relief and recovery efforts and global health interventions in Haiti center on Haitian-led efforts to build stronger and more resilient infrastructure systems and community networks that include planning and preparation for future disasters.
As the war in Ukraine escalates, UMCOR engages with more partners inside and outside Ukraine to care for war-weary people whose lives have been disrupted and overburdened with loss.
As the war in Ukraine escalates, UMCOR engages with more partners inside and outside Ukraine to care for war-weary people whose lives have been disrupted and overburdened with loss. Since July, more than $14 million in new grants have been approved to continue United Methodist war relief through UMCOR.
More than 18 million people face severe hunger in Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya as they struggle to survive the worst drought in 40 years. UMCOR is responding to this unfolding crisis.

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.

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

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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