The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) receives $1 million Lilly Endowment grant
Funds will help Presbyterian Disaster Assistance strengthen its capacity
LOUISVILLE – Lilly Endowment Inc. has awarded a $1 million grant to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) to support the work of Presbyterian Disaster Assistance through the Indianapolis-based foundation’s national initiative, “Hope After the Storm: Capacity Building for Faith-Based Disaster Relief Organizations.”
The grant will enable PDA to do a number of things, including creating two regional networks, expanding the ministry’s emotional-and-spiritual-care offerings and providing more training for its National Response Team (NRT) members. It also plans to strengthen its support for Mid Councils and others, work with consultants to enhance PDA’s ability to work with diverse communities, and develop a secure digital hub to help with the managing of volunteers and handling of documents.
“It is incredibly rare for PDA to receive the support of a grant where funds are intended for the strengthening of our own internal capacity,” said the Rev. Kathy Lee-Cornell, the ministry’s national disaster associate. “The Lilly Endowment grant gives us permission to engage in self-evaluation, to listen more deeply to our partners and to reimagine the ways PDA can be more responsive, effective and efficient in the delivery of our resources and training to support Mid Councils, impacted communities, faith leaders and congregations and disaster response volunteers.”
The two regional networks would be similar to the Florida Presbyterian Disaster Assistance Network, which was started in 2005, and – like other networks – are intended to improve communication and responses before, during and after disasters through strengthened relations and localized coordination.
Through the networks and other efforts, “it is our plan to enhance PDA’s ability to serve disaster-affected communities with dignity, cultural humility and sustained presence,” said the Rev. Edwin A. González-Castillo, who manages PDA.
The grant is one of 30 Lilly Endowment has awarded through Hope After the Storm, an initiative designed to boost the capacity of faith-based organizations to assist individuals and families affected by disasters in communities throughout the United States.
“As the disaster assistance landscape continues to change, PDA has been given the opportunity and the funds that will allow us to adapt to this changing landscape and the increasing gap in resources our communities and congregations face,” Lee-Cornell said.
Lilly Endowment has noted that faith-based organizations play a key role in providing disaster relief services in the United States. They also serve as important vehicles through which individuals and religious communities live out their faith and serve others by volunteering and by giving funds and other resources to address the immediate and long-term needs of their neighbors.
The Rev. Dr. Kathy Riley, associate for emotional and spiritual care, is pleased that the grant will enable PDA to deepen the knowledge and expertise of NRT members.
“New training opportunities for the NRT will be provided over the three years of the grant (and) will include trauma-informed and resilience-focused training programs from individual experts and organizations,” she said. “In addition, a crucial component of our work is to encourage our NRT members to exercise good self-care and maintain their own resilience.”
For more information about Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, go here. Read about the Lilly Endowment here and below.
About Lilly Endowment
Lilly Endowment Inc. is an Indianapolis-based private foundation created in 1937 by J.K. Lilly, Sr. and his sons Eli and J.K. Jr. through gifts of stock in their pharmaceutical business, Eli Lilly and Company. Although the gifts of stock remain a financial bedrock of the Endowment, it is a separate entity from the company, with a distinct governing board, staff and location. In keeping with the founders’ wishes, the Endowment supports the causes of community development, education and religion. The Endowment funds programs throughout the United States, especially in the field of religion, and maintains a special commitment to its founders’ hometown, Indianapolis, and home state, Indiana.
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