As communities across Oregon continue to respond to natural disasters that have ravaged the state for the last four years, a new grant from United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) is hoping to help ease some of the ongoing burden.
Your gifts on UMCOR Sunday helps support the foundation for the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) to share God’s love with communities everywhere.
The Oregon-Idaho Conference was awarded a $200,000 recovery grant from UMCOR to continue supporting survivors of the 2020 wildfires across the state, complete debris cleanup from a hazardous hailstorm in northeast Oregon two years ago and support an ongoing hydrological event in Klamath Falls through a case manager.
“There’s a lot of support that is still needed,” said Louise Kienzle, Oregon-Idaho Conference’s interim disaster response coordinator.
The impact of fires that destroyed homes and communities in southern and central Oregon in 2020 are still being felt by survivors. While there has been some rebuilding that has been done by other Christian aid organizations, Kienzle reported that many folks are still in temporary housing.
And as people have transitioned from temporary to more permanent housing, they’ve needed appliances or furniture.
Long Term Recovery Groups, either already in existence or formed in the wake of natural disasters, have met and assisted people as they could. Unmet Needs tables have also tried to respond.
“The last year-and-a-half, the money at the table has come close to running dry,” Kienzle said.
Over the last four years, the Oregon-Idaho Conference has received more than $300,000 in grants to support flooding in the Umatilla Region, solidary grant funding in Wallowa, and relief funding for wildfires. Other non-profits, community and government agencies have also responded.
A portion of this latest grant will support a case manager in the Klamath and Lake Counties in southern Oregon, where a Long Term Recovery Group was already in place responding to wildfires in 2022 and 2023.
Now it appears there is a neighborhood in Klamath Falls where an upwelling of ground water from an unknown source is causing damage to people’s homes and creating instability. Kienzle said there’s an amazing case manager working with very limited supplies to try and help folks out, but the need is going to continue, and more financial resources are needed to help survivors protect their homes from flooding and things like mold.
“Our goal, as disaster response coordinators, is to make sure people have safe, sanitary and secure places to live,” Kienzle said.
story by Kristen Caldwell, communicator for Oregon-Idaho Annual Conference
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.
When you give generously on UMCOR Sunday, you make a difference in the lives of people who hurt. Give now.
