HCUCC Disaster Ministries December 2020 Updates

Danny Tengan, HCUCC Disaster Ministries Coordinator, offers the following updates:

Recovering Hope Dashboard

Pastors are being required to navigate their own personal and familial situations while also having the weight of those who are looking to them for support, direction, and answers to questions. Incidents of suicide, domestic violence and civil unrest are also on the rise. As a result, UCC national staff across ministries, conference staff, conference disaster coordinators, UCC disaster chaplains, and others have come together to create and consolidate resources into a single, simple website, Recovering Hope, designed to provide a one-stop gathering of resources that may provide relief related to stress caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and effects.

Like other organizations, churches must take appropriate health precautions. We also have a special responsibility to care for members and neighbors. This web page contains information that all settings of the United Church of Christ—local churches, associations, conferences, and national ministries—have contributed to and may find useful. Resources also come from our ecumenical partners and respected health organizations. More information on Recovering Hope can be found HERE.

Operational Grants for Churches that Perform Direct Service

These funds are for general operating support, directed to support churches’ ability to carry out their mission rather than specific projects or programs. General operating support is intended to grant the working capital needed to sustain day-to-day operations. This fund can be applied for by congregations as well as conferences that are applying on behalf of congregations. For questions concerning this grant, please contact Aaron Wade at wadea@ucc.org.

Food Bag Distribution

The next HCUCC Disaster Ministries food bag distribution will be on Saturday, December 12, on O'ahu. As a congregation, please send the number of families that are in need of food and how many there are in each family. It is not necessary to include family names. The list should be sent to Rennie Mau at kahumau@gmail.com by Tuesday, December 8. The earlier the better, because there is a limit in the number of food bags to be given out.

PPE Distribution

There are limited amounts of face masks and hand sanitizers available to congregations that are in need. Please send a consolidated list of how many are needed to Rennie Mau at kahumau@gmail.com. If the request is beyond our inventory, we will do the best we can until another shipment comes in.