When a natural or technological disaster strikes a community, beginning the process of long-term recovery quickly is essential. Yet, it can be a daunting task for local leaders who may not have experience in disaster recovery and may have suffered damage and loss themselves. The ecumenical Disaster Recovery Support Initiative (DRSI) is working to help communities shorten the time between the immediate disaster response and long-term recovery ...

United Church of Christ Disaster Ministries and its partners in the ecumenical Disaster Recovery Support Initiative mobilized $274,002 worth of volunteer labor in 2016 to help South Carolina homeowners recover following the severe floods of October 2015.

Hurricane Matthew in October 2016 was the worst storm to strike Haiti since 1964. It killed up to 1,000, displaced more than 140,000 and left 1.4 million in need of humanitarian assistance.  It wiped out crops and destroyed or damaged homes and schools. UCC Disaster Ministries is funding recovery work that includes seed distribution, repair and reconstruction of homes and schools, and distribution of water purification tablets to help stem the spread of cholera.

When the UCC's Partners in Service network held its annual meeting last week, the four volunteers who serve in UCC Disaster Ministries were among them. They are among 28 Partners in Service currently serving in various ministries.  It is our pleasure to introduce them to you! We trust you will be inspired by their stories of how they got involved and by what they do. 

United Church of Christ Disaster Ministries and its partners in the ecumenical Disaster Recovery Support Initiative mobilized $274,002 worth of volunteer labor in 2016 to help South Carolina homeowners recover following the severe floods of October 2015.

Hurricane Matthew in October 2016 was the worst storm to strike Haiti since 1964. It killed up to 1,000, displaced more than 140,000 and left 1.4 million in need of humanitarian assistance.  It wiped out crops and destroyed or damaged homes and schools. UCC Disaster Ministries is funding recovery work that includes seed distribution, repair and reconstruction of homes and schools, and distribution of water purification tablets to help stem the spread of cholera.

In 2016, United Church of Christ Disaster Ministries extended expert recovery assistance in 21 countries, including the United States, to people whose lives were turned upside down by wind and water, wildfires and lead, earthquakes and radiation, drought and hunger.

"I hope people know how devastating this was and still is. It's over a year since the storm and people are still struggling and suffering from it. We still need help." Those are the words of Cynthia Charles, 57, of Columbia, S.C., who was among thousands in communities across South Carolina and in other states whose homes suffered damage from high winds and record-setting torrential rains in October 2015.

UCC Disaster Ministries has just transmitted $16,178 to Global Ministries partners in Japan who are reaching out to an underserved group of survivors of the triple earthquake-tsunami-nuclear disaster in March 2011: immigrant women. Some 1,100 Chinese, Korean, Filipino and Thai immigrant women in Fukushima and Shirakawa, Japan, continue to struggle for information and support following the disaster.

UCC Disaster Ministries has just transmitted $16,178 to Global Ministries partners in Japan who are reaching out to an underserved group of survivors of the triple earthquake-tsunami-nuclear disaster in March 2011: immigrant women. Some 1,100 Chinese, Korean, Filipino and Thai immigrant women in Fukushima and Shirakawa, Japan, continue to struggle for information and support following the disaster.