Joint Statement: UUSC-UUA Ebola Epidemic Relief Fund

November 3, 2014

Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC) President Rev. Bill Schulz and Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) President Rev. Peter Morales have issued this joint statement about the Ebola epidemic in West Africa:

Health officials estimate that by January 2015, the Ebola virus will have infected 1.4 million people, most of them in West Africa. This health crisis demands our immediate attention. In response, we have launched the UUSC-UUA Ebola Epidemic Relief Fund to assist health organizations in Liberia and Sierra Leone, two of the countries most devastated by the epidemic.

Donations to this special relief fund will be directed to UUSC’s well-respected community-based partners in those countries. The funds will be used to support community-based partners that will address the full continuum of care by strengthening established health centers, training new health workers, focusing on rapid case detection, and tracing patient contact.

As with previous UUSC-UUA joint relief efforts, the funds will be distributed to groups working with marginalized communities in the area, communities that often are neglected by other relief efforts. We will work with these partner groups to monitor present conditions and future needs.

The situation in West Africa is dire. Please be generous with your donations to the UUSC-UUA Ebola Epidemic Relief Fund. Help cannot come too soon for our partners in communities on the margins — no other assistance may come to these communities.

To make a donation to the UUSC-UUA Ebola Epidemic Relief Fund, please visit uusc.org/ebola.