During General Convention, the UTO Board announced the 2018 UTO Grant recipients. This year, the Board awarded three grants in what we consider the historical category – grants that tie back to the founding work of UTO, including support for missionaries; for the UTO Internship program, which will move to Washington, DC in 2018; and for the Presiding Bishop’s Grant, which this year supports Partners in Welcome, a new program through Episcopal Migration Ministries. In 2018, 27 grants were awarded to sites within The Episcopal Church and four were awarded directly to sites in the Anglican Communion. Every single grant is amazing and will do profound work, but we wanted to take a moment to tell the stories of a couple of unique projects.

The grant to the Diocese of El Camino Real will support Project Bridge in hiring its first staff person. Project Bridge aims to provide strengths-based reentry case management that targets incarcerated men and women within 30 days of their release, utilizing the Church as a strategic support partner. This program will also provide advocacy within the community and work for prison reform.

The grant to the Church in Spain is truly fun and unique. It is to support a congregation that is purchasing space to house young adult refugees who are interested in furthering their education while participating in acrobatics. The building will house those without shelter, provide a gym and training space for the acrobatics program (instead of needing to raise money to pay for use of the local community recreational center), and help refugees find new hope and a new life in Spain.

Of all the grants submitted this year that were eligible for funding, 30 went unfunded because we simply ran out of money. These projects are wonderful ministries that deserve the opportunity to start, grow, and thrive. We hope you will join us in inviting others to participate in UTO so that each year we might be able to fund more and more wonderful projects.

To learn more, follow these links:
2018 Grant List – www.episcopalchurch.org/uto
2018 Grant Brochures now available at the distribution center! https://shimaofnavajoland.com/collections/United-Thank-Offering
1883-2018 UTO Grant List and Map – https://unitedthankoffering.com/granting/1883-2015-grant-list/