United States

IOCC's US Program focuses on disaster preparedness and response and mobilizes volunteers to serve.

Helping Our Own Neighbors in Need

Since 2001, IOCC’s US Programs have provided over $67 million in aid and gifts-in-kind, as well as over 65,000 volunteer hours to survivors of disasters across the country. Following severe weather events, emergency and home-rebuilding assistance has been provided throughout the United States.

Get Involved

Home Build Teams

IOCC first coordinated Home Build Teams in 2005 after Hurricane Katrina. Since then, these teams have worked on hundreds of US homes. To learn more about IOCC’s Home Build Teams, click here.

IOCC Emergency Action Teams help homeowners clear debris and muck out their homes after flooding or other damage, in preparation for rebuilding. To learn more about IOCC’s Emergency Action Teams, click here.

IOCC Frontliners—highly trained, credentialed, and experienced Orthodox clergy and laity—arrive on the scene following disasters in the US to provide emotional and spiritual care. This group was created following the attacks of September 11, 2001. To learn more about IOCC’s Frontliners, click here.

Learn, Prepare, and Care

IOCC’s Serv-X-Treme youth conference is designed to pair an Orthodox understanding of philanthropy with hands-on service opportunities. Each day will consist of time for worship, learning, service in the community, reflection, and fellowship. Applications are open to rising high-school seniors, with additional spots reserved for bishop-appointed nominees. Read more about Serv-X-Treme here.

The Homefront comprises Orthodox parishes that have graciously opened their doors to the community in times of disaster, training parishioners to respond and serving as distribution centers or shelters in times of need. Read more here.

During a crisis, people may feel isolated, overwhelmed, and challenged by negative feelings. But you can help change that. To learn more about IOCC Care Calls, click here.

Simple tools that anyone can use no matter where you may find yourself. Together, we can find ways to navigate toward resilience. Read more here.

Your Gifts At Work

Sharing Hope with Others

Hurricane volunteers
An IOCC volunteer spotted “Hope” in the debris pile—stenciled onto part of a wall removed from a flooded home in Wilmington, NC. After salvaging the message and cutting it out, the muck-out team signed it for homeowners Tammie and AJ. Pictured above are AmeriCorps volunteer Shayna Koren, IOCC volunteer Sheff Priest, and homeowner Tammie — sharing an uplifting message for a difficult moment.

Recent years have seen the expansion of IOCC’s disaster response in the United States, with increased deployments of volunteers including IOCC Frontliners, who offer emotional and spiritual care to people who’ve survived large-scale disasters. That important work continues across the country, whether the event is a natural disaster or a human-caused tragedy.

IOCC’s Orthodox Action Teams have grown in number and reach, thanks to dedicated volunteers across the country. Team leaders have trained and deployed, and our network of partner organizations continues to grow. Emergency cleanup operations and repairs to houses damaged in disasters continue across affected areas of the US.

Together, these initiatives—and the people who make them reality—are strengthening the Church’s response to human needs in times of crisis.

We can only continue this work with your support. Make a generous gift today, so that together we can improve lives around the world.

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