Photo Credit: Lauren Vereen A Sweet moment during a church memorial held in Hunt, Texas after the Texas Hill Country flooding event.
Climate-Adaptive Disaster Response
Research tells us that climate change is causing more frequent and severe wildfires and heat waves, and they are occurring in new places, leaving under-resourced communities without the systems and support to adapt. As a community of faith, we can ease the burden on people disproportionately impacted by climate-fueled disasters by using our collective resources (people, property, purse, posture and proximity) to shelter, care and support them. As we enter hurricane season, and a season of heightened risk of high heat and wildfires, we invite you to explore the following tips and tools to support your response to heat waves and power outages. We also included a resource to help mobile communities consider risks they may face during their recovery after a disaster.
Meet Jason! (Our Asset Map guy)
We are so excited to have Jason Ruiz-Swartz on the Episcopal Relief & Development team! His role includes supporting ministries as they engage with the Episcopal Asset Map, a preparedness and response tool we use to identify ministries to partner with during disasters. If you have any questions, contact Jason at assetmap@episcopalrelief.org
A Cooling Center for High Heat Days in New Orleans
St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in New Orleans invites their community to enjoy the air conditioning during high heat days. By doing this, they are saving lives, and you can too. If your church is able to host people in an air-conditioned space, let people know by adding community-facing events to your Episcopal Asset Map profile today.
During a heat wave, antidepressants, anti-anxiety medications, stimulants, antipsychotics and mood stabilizers can interfere with a person’s ability to regulate heat and their awareness that their body temperature is rising, which can lead to injury and death.
Photo Credit: Jody Guerra, Episcopal Diocese of West Texas
Patricia, a program participant, stands in front of the new RV she received after the Texas Hill Country flooding event in July 2025.
Disaster Preparedness for Manufactured Homes & RV Residents
Manufactured homes and recreational vehicles (RVs) provide an affordable, flexible housing solution for hundreds of thousands of people—particularly low-income and immigrant families, and older adults. However, they also come with trade-offs and inherent risks. We recently produced a resource to explain how we are working with mobile communities to assess risks and plan for disasters.
For over 85 years, Episcopal Relief & Development has worked with an extensive network of faith and community partners to advance lasting change in communities affected by injustice, poverty, disaster and climate change. Inspired by our faith, we reach over three million people each year by focusing on four interconnected priorities: nurturing the potential of caregivers and young children, reducing violence against women and girls, strengthening communities’ resilience to climate change and facilitating humanitarian response to disasters. Together with our partners, we leverage what’s working well to drive impact, learning and sustainability. Together, we create lasting change. Join us: episcopalrelief.org.
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