Lilly Endowment Inc. awards ABHMS $1.0 million grant to strengthen disaster preparedness, response, and long-term recovery
VALLEY FORGE, PA (ABNS 07/XX/2026)—American Baptist Home Mission Societies (ABHMS) has received a $1.0 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. through its Hope After the Storm: Capacity Building for Faith-Based Disaster Relief Organizations initiative.
With the grant, ABHMS will strengthen its national disaster response infrastructure by developing coordinated systems for preparedness, response, and long-term recovery across the organization’s aligned action networks. These networks comprise nine geographic clusters of mission-minded American Baptist partners spanning the United States and Puerto Rico.
ABHMS’ grant-funded efforts will focus on four core areas:
Building a national faith-based disaster mobilization system
Strengthening regional disaster network ministry teams to serve as localized response hubs
Expanding training for clergy and community leaders
Institutionalizing sustainable systems that integrate spiritual and emotional care with material recovery efforts
Together, these efforts will enhance coordination, shorten response times, and ensure more equitable support for communities affected by disasters.
“Through strategic partnerships, we will work to fill critical gaps for communities already living on the margins,” said Rev. Jennifer Stewart, Ph.D., director of ABHMS’ Healing & Transforming Communities unit (H&TC). “We’ve learned that disasters do not affect all communities equally, and for many, they compound ongoing injustice. This initiative is about responding with equity and justice at the center, so communities can heal and move toward lasting transformation.”
ABHMS will implement its grant-funded work over a three-year period through H&TC and include partnerships with regional networks, congregations, long-term recovery organizations, and community-based nonprofits. The initiative will support the training of approximately 200 leaders, the development of a national volunteer network, and the creation of systems that enable more coordinated and sustained disaster response—particularly in communities experiencing heightened vulnerability.
Disaster response and recovery are central to ABHMS’ mission. Since 1976, the organization has coordinated disaster relief through the American Baptist Churches USA Domestic Disaster Response Network, providing financial assistance, mobilizing volunteers, offering trauma-informed pastoral care, and supporting long-term recovery. Through H&TC, ABHMS continues to strengthen faith-based disaster response by equipping partners, coordinating resources, and helping communities long after initial emergency response efforts have ended.
The grant to ABHMS is one of 30 awards through Hope After the Storm, an initiative aimed at strengthening the capacity of faith-based organizations to provide aid to individuals and families affected by disasters nationwide.
Lilly Endowment recognizes that faith-based organizations play a key role in providing disaster relief services in the U.S. They also serve as important vehicles through which individuals and religious communities live out their faith and serve others by volunteering and contributing funds and other resources to address the immediate needs of their neighbors.
For more information about disaster response and recovery at ABHMS, visit Healing & Transforming Communities online.
About Lilly Endowment Inc.
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.
About American Baptist Home Mission Societies
American Baptist Home Mission Societies partners with American Baptists to promote Christian faith, cultivate Christ-centered leaders and disciples, and bring healing and transformation to communities across the United States and Puerto Rico.
About American Baptist Churches USA
American Baptist Churches USA is one of the most diverse Christian denominations today, with approximately 5,000 congregations comprised of 1.3 million members, across the United States and Puerto Rico, all engaged in God’s mission around the world.