When U.S. government support for Ukraine decreased, directors of United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) and Global Ministries approved grants that helped fill some gaps and ease uncertainty.
UMCOR has supported relief and recovery projects in Ukraine since Russia’s invasion in 2022. Working with many different partners, UMCOR has accompanied people affected by the war through ongoing phases of humanitarian response.
At a Global Ministries Board of Directors meeting, members approved two major grants for continued war recovery in Ukraine. The ongoing conflict has had devastating effects on the population, causing widespread infrastructure damage and large-scale economic disruption.
Grant Supports Displaced Persons
A new grant of $1 million to International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC) gives continued support for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and people with disabilities living in conflicted areas, such as Zakarpattia, Rivne, Ternopil, Lviv, Chernivtsi and Ivano-Frankivsk. It will provide food and other essentials, and job training, thereby fostering stability, self-reliance and improving prospects for long-term recovery. Economic empowerment is especially crucial for women IDPs, who care for children and parents and face additional barriers to employment. IOCC will also establish safe housing conditions in three shelters and two institutions.
Another UMCOR partner, One Collective, is building an apartment complex in Zakarpatska Oblast, projected to house 40 people. Apartments have private bathroom facilities and a common kitchen, living room, and laundromat facilities. Many residents cannot obtain safe and permanent homes until after the end of the war. In addition to building houses, the grant of $400,000 will help the project incorporate construction training for displaced individuals and others who have lost their primary source of income because of the war. Those who participate in the training will receive jobs to build the houses. This type of programming seeks to address the needs of livelihood as well as housing.
Providing Homes for Fleeing Refugees
“It is becoming apparent that many from Eastern Ukraine will not be able to return home,” Katie Hills, director of UMCOR Disaster Response, said to UMCOR directors at their committee meeting in April. Therefore, two critical areas requiring aid are shelter and livelihood programs. Return to stable and reliable medical care, which includes trauma counseling and Post Traumatic Distress Syndrome (PTSD) counseling for civilians and military personnel, are also concerns that UMCOR is addressing.
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 Christie R. House, consultant writer and editor with Global Ministries and UMCOR.
One of six churchwide Special Sundays with offerings of The United Methodist Church, UMCOR Sunday calls United Methodists to share the goodness of life with those who hurt. Your gifts to UMCOR Sunday lay the foundation for the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) to share God’s love with communities everywhere. The special offering underwrites UMCOR’s “costs of doing business.” This helps UMCOR to keep the promise that 100 percent of any gift to a specific UMCOR project will go toward that project, not administrative costs.
