The Pacific Northwest Annual Conference is now administering more than $1 million in disaster recovery funding across Washington State, supporting survivors of the December 2025 floods. The latest milestone is a $675,000 Recovery Grant from the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR), awarded to the conference to provide comprehensive long-term recovery assistance to households affected by last winter’s floods in 16 counties and tribal nations.
The flooding caused widespread devastation across Washington State, destroying or damaging more than 440 homes. Approximately 10,000 people were affected, and more than 100,000 residents were ordered to evacuate, including the entire populations of two cities.
UMCOR Grant Details
The new UMCOR Recovery Grant will immediately fund a coordinated network of Disaster Case Management staff across the most heavily impacted counties, providing:
- Five Disaster Case Managers, a Client Recovery Manager, and a bookkeeper through the Whatcom Long Term Recovery Group (WLTRG)
- Two Disaster Case Managers through the United Way of Skagit County
- Unmet needs roundtable support in both counties, as well as emerging county recovery groups and their survivor assistance mechanisms
As part of the recovery effort, the PNW Conference hosted a UMCOR Disaster Case Management in-person training in May in Mount Vernon, bringing together recovery staff from Whatcom, Skagit and Snohomish County recovery groups.
Chuck Messinger, Community Resilience Director and Housing Strategist for the United Way of Skagit County (UWSC), extended sincere gratitude to UMCOR for its generous financial support of our Disaster Case Management efforts.
With UMCOR’s financial assistance, Messinger said the goal is not only to help Skagit County rebuild from this disaster, but to establish a sustainable model that prepares the county for future ones.
Immediate Relief Response
Before long-term recovery work began, the PNW Conference fielded Early Response Teams (ERTs) into Whatcom County, starting with skilled damage assessment teams supporting Whatcom County Emergency Management.
PNW ERT members and church volunteers also staffed eight Disaster Assistance Centers across Whatcom, Skagit, King, and Snohomish Counties, distributing gas and food cards, personal care kits, cleaning buckets, flood cleanup guides in English and Spanish, and document replacement guides. Conference disaster relief donations were also used to support this work and to support impacted congregants in British Columbia.
UMCOR supported these early efforts with a $10,000 Solidarity Grant in December 2025. An additional $30,000 in PNW Conference disaster relief donations helped ramp up disaster case management in Whatcom County.
UMCOR trainer Mellie Thomas also led a National VOAD Long-Term Recovery (LTR) virtual workshop in February for the Washington Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (WaVOAD).
Your Donations Help
Your gifts on UMCOR Sunday helps support the foundation for the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) so that they can provide lifesaving grants to people suffering from disasters around the world.
excerpt from a story by Patrick Scriven, Director of Communications.
This story shows the impact of UMCOR Sunday—one of six United Methodist Special Sundays with offerings—to ensure that help and hope reach those in crisis. Your gifts cover the administrative costs of the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR), so that 100% of other donations can go directly to disaster response and humanitarian aid. Together, we make it possible for the Church to respond swiftly and faithfully when the world needs care most.
When you give generously on UMCOR Sunday, you sustain the ministry that enables the Church to bring God’s love and practical help to disaster-stricken communities.
