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The United Church of Christ’s Global H.O.P.E. team has received a $50,000 grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. as part of the “Hope After the Storm: Faith-Based Disaster Relief Capacity Building” initiative. The grant aims to help faith-based organizations strengthen their disaster response efforts at a time when storms are becoming more frequent and resources are limited.
Andrew Long-Higgins, Minister and Team Leader for Global H.O.P.E., explained that Lilly Endowment has taken a particular interest in supporting disaster response and recovery work. He noted that Katie Howe, minister of Disaster Response and Recovery, was approached by the foundation with an invitation to apply for the grant due to the UCC’s focus on justice within disaster response.
“Lilly Endowment has identified disaster response and recovery as an area that they are particularly interested in,” said Long-Higgins.
For Rev. Karen Georgia Thompson, UCC’s General Minister and President/CEO, such ministries require cooperation among government agencies, NGOs, and faith-based groups—an effort now challenged by reduced government funding. “With government spending cuts, the response to disasters is threatened, as is the capacity for restoring homes and lives. At a time when climate crisis is affecting the weather and causing more disasters, this grant will afford the team the opportunity to explore how the United Church of Christ can be more responsive to disasters in collaboration with congregations and partners,” said Thompson.
The initial $50,000 covers a planning phase that involves organizing information-gathering sessions with stakeholders across UCC. These meetings will start in December in Cleveland and continue into 2026 with further discussions elsewhere. Long-Higgins emphasized working together with local churches: “We want to come alongside the work that many local churches are already doing in their immediate contexts as we think together about where our collective response capacities can be strengthened. We know that the best post-disaster response begins with pre-disaster relationships. How can we be better at sharing lessons across response spaces? We really see this is an opportunity to engage in a process of re-imagination as we all seek new ways to thrive in our increasingly complex reality.”
Following this planning stage will be an implementation phase that may receive additional funding from Lilly Endowment.
Long-Higgins acknowledged changes within UCC since Hurricane Katrina in 2005: “The reality is that the UCC has changed a lot demographically since our response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Our membership size has decreased but the need in responding to disasters has increased,” he said. “The beauty of the grant is that it’s giving us the opportunity to think deeply and creatively about new ways of doing disaster response and recovery at the local level, in collaboration with others, and beyond the walls of the UCC. It is an opportunity to build and strengthen relationships.”
Katie Howe highlighted how building pre-disaster capacity could improve future responses: “This grant funding from the Lilly Endowment allows us to rethink how we engage in disaster ministries, and how we can have the greatest impact with the work we do. By building our pre-disaster capacity and resilience and strengthening our response systems, we are well positioned to respond quickly and efficiently to the emotional, spiritual and physical needs of communities affected by disasters,” she said.
Rev. Shari Prestemon underscored UCC’s ongoing commitment: “The United Church of Christ is committed to accompanying communities devastated by disasters through the long season of recovery,” she said. “We’re grateful to the Lilly Endowment for giving us this amazing opportunity to strengthen these ministries for the future, facilitating healing and renewal in the wake of immense loss.”
