Chunks of broken asphalt lie among mud, rocks and other storm debris after severe flooding caused by Hurricane Helene.
Photos by Mike DuBose, UM News.
California
Florida
Georgia
North Carolina
South Carolina
Tennessee
Virginia
YOUR COMPASSION MEETS CRISIS HEAD-ON
Your Support Traveled Where Roads Couldn’t
Because of you, hope and help reached communities shattered by Hurricane Helene.
Following Hurricane Helene’s destruction in September 2024, the Southeast was pummeled by historic rainfall and catastrophic flooding. With at least 179 lives lost across six states and critical infrastructure damaged—especially in Western North Carolina—the need for swift action was critical.
UMCOR rose to meet survivors’ needs, mobilizing a deeply rooted, community-based response. Volunteers assembled and distributed hygiene and cleaning kits. And UMCORtrained Early Response Teams (ERTs) fanned out through struggling neighborhoods, some even traveling by motorcycle, ATV and pack mule where roads were washed away.
Across the wider United Methodist connection, churches across the United States provided prayer and special offerings, embodying the spirit of shared compassion and resilience.
“We raise money here in our conference, but not nearly enough. But when we combine our money with UMCOR’s, we make something really wonderful happen.”
—Dana Bryson, Co-Disaster Response Coordinator for the Pacific Northwest Conference
Partner in God’s Restorative Mission—Give Today. Every cleaning kit. Every home rebuilt. Every life restored. This is what your gift makes possible. When we combine resources, prayers and compassion, we help transform loss into hope—one family, one kit and one home at a time. Give now. Scan the QR code, visit giveumcmission.org/hope or use the envelope enclosed. Because dignity is not a luxury. It’s a lifeline.
Photos by Mike DuBose, UMNS
From Ashes to Hope—You Light the Way
Your support equips UMCOR teams to guide California wildfire survivors toward recovery.
When the smoke clears, a wildfire crisis isn’t over. Communities are left facing the long, often confusing road to recovery—navigating insurance claims, replacing critical documents and finding temporary housing.
Two new UMCOR grants provide recovery support to survivors of the 2024 mountain fire in Ventura County, California, which scorched nearly 20,000 acres. The funds will expand a network of trained Disaster Case Managers (DCMs) across the state, and each follows UMCOR’s well-established standards for disaster case management.
Each family is paired with a case manager who develops a personalized recovery plan, coordinates resources to fulfill unmet needs and works alongside long-term recovery groups to ensure survivors don’t fall through the cracks.
Earlier this year, UMCOR grants provided support to evacuees in immediate need—including food, supplies and other unmet necessities—as well as support for volunteer efforts and other relief activities in the San Gabriel Valley and Los Angeles Counties.
In wildfire-affected areas, where homes and livelihoods can be lost overnight, UMCOR helps bring clarity to what can otherwise feel like chaos. Thank you for your partnership not only in rebuilding homes, but also in rebuilding and restoring lives.
HOW YOU SHOWED UP FOR SURVIVORS LAST YEAR
In 2024, Global Ministries and UMCOR:
Ź Distributed $37.6 million in humanitarian relief
Ź Implemented 187 emergency and solidarity grants
Ź Assisted survivors of 137 global humanitarian crises, including 42 extreme weather events; 32 floods; 3 earthquakes; 7 public health emergencies; and 25 migration events.
Thanks to Your Faithfulness, Dignity Is Not a Luxury
With your help, UMCOR’s disaster response kits brim with necessities—and are packed with love.
Imagine standing in the ruins of your home after a flood. Then, someone hands you a cleaning kit. The contents aren’t merely soap and disposable gloves—they are a lifeline, offering you the chance to scrub away the chaos and start again.
And for women and girls in disaster zones, Menstrual Hygiene Kits provide essential supplies and preserve dignity.
Every item in every kit is thoughtfully chosen, carefully packed and prayerfully sent by volunteers who may never meet the recipients, but whose compassion travels along with every bar of soap telling every survivor: “You matter.”
Photos courtesy of UMCOR Sager Brown
Courtesy of UMCOR California-Nevada Conference
YOU HELP TO BRING COMPASSION WHERE IT’S NEEDED MOST
In stories spanning crises and continents, see how your partnership with UMCOR is helping to further God’s just and restorative mission.
You Are Helping to Mend Ukraine’s Brokenness—Seen and Unseen
Holding space for survivors’ silence— and stories
When U.S. Disaster Response Program Manager Liz McDevitt visited a Ukrainian shelter earlier this year, what struck her most wasn’t the shattered infrastructure or crowded living quarters; it was the silence.
The kind of silence that follows trauma too vast for words.
But she was also struck by how the people, despite being displaced from homes and heritage, exude palpable resilience.
One such person is a woman currently staying at Under the Castle, a shelter for displaced people. She
worked as an artist and poet before the war. Since fleeing from her home, she hasn’t written a single line. But slowly, thanks to the safe environment made possible by people like you, she is beginning to explore the possibility of creating again.
UMCOR has also provided funding to a children’s hospital repurposed by local government into a shelter for 400 displaced people. Beds fill rooms once meant for play therapy and check-ups. Thanks to gifts from people like you, UMCOR provided much-needed washing machines, dryers and accessible bathrooms.
UMCOR is also assisting veterans as they work through the trauma of the battlefield. Ukraine’s military underreports cases of PTSD to avoid Russian propaganda. While many veterans receive treatment, most are sent back to the front lines, leaving families to grapple with loved ones who have changed in ways they don’t always understand.
Through partnerships with local organizations like the United Methodist Church of Ukraine and the International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC), UMCOR is changing that narrative by offering trauma-informed care, emotional support groups and training for community leaders.
From Loss to Hope—How You Are Helping Women in DR Congo Rise Again
In a modest building in the heart of Kindu, DR Congo, the rhythmic hum of sewing machines blends with soft laughter and quiet conversation. Here at the Mama Lynn Center, survivors of gender-based violence are finding hope.
Each woman who enters the program comes carrying the weight of trauma from the ongoing conflict in eastern
Photo by Mike DuBose, UMNS
Congo. Many are survivors of sexual violence, a devastating epidemic worsened by displacement, poverty and entrenched gender inequality. But inside the Mama Lynn Center’s classrooms and counseling spaces, a new story is being written—one of courage, healing and transformation.
Founded by Dr. Marie Claire Manafundu, the center offers vocational training in sewing, cooking, soap-making and childcare, along with counseling and essential health services. Funded by a recent UMCOR grant, the program will enroll 150 women in 2025, provide food and hygiene for 60 residents and distribute startup kits to help 120 women launch independent businesses after graduation.
“These women are powerful,” says Dr. Manafundu. “They just need the chance to feel it again. Our goal is to help them see their own strength, one skill, one step, one day at a time.”
The Mama Lynn Center is named in honor of the Rev. Lynn Zett, a U.S. pastor and dedicated collaborator partner alongside the women of the DR Congo in their journey to reclaim their futures. Today, thanks to the generosity of people like you, Zett’s partnership and legacy live on in every courageous smile, every shared meal and every woman who dares to dream again.
Hope Endures after the Quake
Your generosity is helping families across Myanmar find a path toward healing.
When an earthquake hit Central Myanmar in March 2025, few could predict the scale of devastation that would follow. Homes collapsed, crops were ruined and many families lost not only shelter, but also access to clean water, food and education.
But even during this devastation, hope is being restored.
UMCOR recently began collaborating with a local partner to support urgent relief for survivors. It’s a partnership not only rooted in compassion, but also in strategy. With communication cutoffs and political restrictions limiting direct aid, our partner’s local access provided UMCOR with a rare and vital route into affected communities.
You Help Bring Hope to the Hardest-Hit Places
The World Health Organization recently highlighted crises in nine locations around the globe. Thanks to your support, Global Ministries and UMCOR are assisting survivors in five of those locations, including:
Your Support Assists Survivors in Five of Today’s Nine Most Critical Crises
Afghanistan
Israel/Palestine
Somalia
South Sudan
Ukraine
Together, we are providing lifesaving relief and strengthening long-term recovery and resilience. Give today to ensure relief reaches those who need it most.
Courtesy of East Congo
The relief operation—spanning Mandalay, Shan, Sagaing and other regions—will provide shelter, clean drinking water, food assistance and critical health services. More than infrastructure, the project focuses on rebuilding human dignity. Children who lost access to schools will receive emergency education services and trauma-informed care.
In Inle Lake’s region of Southern Shan State alone, over 12,000 people face urgent needs. The UMCOR-supported response aims to address not just the immediate crisis, but also to provide long-term support.
The months ahead will be challenging. But this ecumenical alliance empowers UMCOR to help ensure that Myanmar’s earthquake survivors do not strive for recovery alone.
Your Support Helps the Church in DR Congo Feed those Displaced by Violence
When M23 rebels swept through Bukavu earlier this year, the violence left more than ruins in its wake. It shattered homes, families and the fragile sense of safety in a region battered by decades of conflict.
“We knew we had to act fast,” says Jean Matayao Tshomba, disaster management coordinator for the United Methodist Church – East Congo Episcopal Area. “People weren’t just hungry. They were losing hope.”
Thanks to the help of people like you, an emergency UMCOR grant has helped the church launch a food relief initiative to support 150 of the most vulnerable households. That’s 900 mouths to feed, many of them children, older adults, or survivors of unspeakable violence.
Since January, more than 7,000 people have been killed in renewed clashes. Over 450,000 have fled. Camps meant to shelter the displaced have been burned down and food supplies looted.
“The situation is desperate,” says UMCOR International Disaster Response Program Manager Bintou Diao. “Children are being recruited into armed groups, families are being hunted, and humanitarian aid is struggling to get through.”
Yet, UMCOR and The United Methodist Church press on. Using reopened ports and longstanding community connections, volunteers are delivering a month’s worth of food rations to each household.
For Bishop Gabriel Unda, who oversees the Episcopal Area, these efforts, empowered by your support, stand as a “reflection of the gospel in action.”
Whether it's a mother learning to sew in DR Congo, a child receiving trauma care in Myanmar, or a veteran processing grief in Ukraine, you join the Holy Spirit’s healing work with your gifts and prayers.
The needs are urgent and ongoing. Give today at giveumcmission.org/hope or use the enclosed response card.
Your gift doesn’t just offer aid. It also plants hope.
Hope that grows into resilience.
Hope that speaks louder than trauma.
Hope that says: You are not forgotten.
Photo: East Congo DMO
Defending Parents, Protecting Children and Giving Hope to those Facing the Threat of Mass Deportation
When Alba Jaramillo opens her inbox each morning, the messages are heartbreaking. Stories of families torn apart, undocumented parents fearing workplace raids and children asking if their schools are safe. But this year, she’s answering those cries with new resolve and crucial new resources.
Jaramillo is the co-executive director of the Immigration Law & Justice Network (ILJN), a faith-rooted legal system responding to the looming threat of a national deportation campaign. Backed by a generous UMCOR grant, ILJN has launched a Removal Defense Unit to help families facing legal uncertainty, detention and displacement.
“This isn’t just about law,” she says. “It’s about compassion, community and justice.”
With mass deportations and expedited removals under the new administration, ILJN’s network—spanning 17 states—is uniquely positioned to help. The grant funds will go toward hiring legal experts, creating multilingual “Know Your Rights” materials and even offering wellness retreats for attorneys and staff facing emotional burnout.
“Being on the frontlines of this work is exhausting,” says Melissa Bowe, ILJN’s other co-executive director. “But with UMCOR’s support, we’re stronger. We can equip our teams to respond with wisdom and care—and to keep showing up, no matter how hard the fight gets.”
The United Methodist Church has long stood in solidarity with migrants, but this initiative marks a bold and timely response to rising threats.
Stand with Immigrant Families—Give Today. Every day, immigrant families are living in fear—of detention, deportation and being torn from the people and places they call home. But they don’t have to face this crisis alone. Give today at giveumcmission.org/hope or use the response card enclosed. Together, we can turn fear into hope, and justice into action.
Bishop Felipe Ruiz Aguilar of the Methodist Church of Mexico (left rear, wearing plaid shirt) prays with volunteers from La Santísima Trinidad Methodist Church after the group had offered breakfast and prayers for men living on the street in Mexicali, Mexico. Photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.
Steel plates stand atop the posts of the border fence that marks the boundary between Mexico and the U.S. at El Faro Park in Tijuana, Mexico.
The graffiti atop the center section is Spanish for "We are all migrants."
Photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.
GAZA UPDATE: You are Bringing Warm Meals to Displaced Families
In war-torn Gaza, where malnutrition is spreading faster than aid can arrive, a warm meal can mean survival—and hope.
For Farah,* a mother living in a displacement camp in Central Gaza, it was the first time in weeks she could give her children a nutritious meal with meat. “They were so happy,” she says. Since renewed conflict and a near-total blockade have choked off supplies, more than 2.1 million people in Gaza face starvation alongside ongoing violence. While largescale humanitarian operations continue to call for open aid corridors, small, faith-based organizations are quietly stepping in to try to meet urgent needs where people are sheltering.
One such effort is a partnership between the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) and International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC), which contracts with local kitchens to prepare and deliver fresh meals directly to camps. This approach avoids the challenges of distributing raw food in places with no cooking facilities and provides jobs for community members.
For Hana,* a 34-year-old mother of five whose home was destroyed and whose husband was injured, the program meant relief and dignity. “My children would go to sleep hungry,” she recalls. “The war took away our home and our ability to survive. When I saw them eat that first hot meal, I was so relieved.”
Building on a successful pilot project that fed thousands daily, UMCOR and IOCC are working to expand to a new Central Gaza site, partnering with a Palestinian women’s organization to reach 3,700 people. Plans include not only food aid, but also psychosocial support, trauma counseling and activities for 2,000 children to help them experience moments of joy amid crisis.
Even in the chaos of war, these programs emphasize respect and partnership. IOCC staff invite recipients to help evaluate the aid, giving voice to those most affected. For UMCOR, this work is more than relief. It is an act of faith, ensuring that in Gaza’s darkest hours, dignity, kindness and hope still have a place.
*Names have been changed.
Be the Hands of Hope. Give to UMCOR Today
In every corner of the world, families are facing disasters, displacement and despair. From hurricanes in the U.S. to war-torn communities in Gaza and Ukraine, from refugee crises in DR Congo to mass deportation threats in the U.S., UMCOR is there because people like you responded to this moment with your support.
When Fear Rises, Compassion Shows Up Around the World With:
Ź Emergency food, shelter and clean water for earthquake survivors in Myanmar
Ź Dignity and healing for women overcoming trauma in the DR Congo
Ź Legal defense for immigrant families facing detention and deportation
Ź Hygiene and cleaning kits that bring comfort to storm survivors
Ź Trauma care and safe spaces for veterans and children in conflict zones
Together, we can join in God’s promise in Isaiah 41:10—“I will surely help you; I will hold you with my righteous, strong hand.”
Your gift to UMCOR isn’t just a donation. It’s a declaration: We will not stand idly by.
Give generously today at giveumcmission.org/hope or use the reply card enclosed. Let’s turn compassion into action and make sure hope shows up—again and again.