There are many ways to help
Respond Ottawa helps coordinate churches to plug the gaps that are not addressed by existing emergency response mechanisms. By bringing our resources into service in a time of crisis – including our facilities, people, equipment, and skills – the church of the Ottawa area can meet real needs and show how we care for those around us.
Donate Now
Respond Ottawa relies on funding and donations from committed individuals and congregations that believe in the vision of churches working together for greater impact during a time of crisis.
Resources
There are plenty of steps you can take right now to prepare your church to be ready to help when a crisis arises. Check out some of the training materials, and find out more about our Asset Mapping project as we assemble assemble a list of the capabilities within churches across the region.
Get Your Church Involved
Join the network of churches across the Ottawa region that have said they want to help during times of crisis. Send us a message through the form below to start exploring how your church can participate with Respond Ottawa.
Asset Mapping
If your church is connected to Respond Ottawa, we want to get you set up in our asset mapping database. We are tracking the resources churches across the city have that might be useful in a time of crisis. Send us a message using the form below to get the process started.
Get your church involved or inquire about asset mapping...
Prepare.
Getting ready before a disaster strikes helps us to respond to needs more quickly. Respond Ottawa works to raise awareness and ensure appropriate training and education resources are made available for churches.
Connect.
We are stronger and more capable when we are networked together. Respond Ottawa strives to connect churches, relief organizations and government efforts so that gaps can be identified and addressed.
Deploy.
Relief resources are only useful when they are put to good use in appropriate ways. Respond Ottawa helps churches to coordinate and put their capabilities into action when the community needs them most.
Our story
Following the tornadoes that hit the Ottawa and surrounding region in the fall of 2018, a task force was formed to assess how the Christian community in the Ottawa region could provide a united and caring response to our city and region during a disaster or critical event. Several pastors, churches, and parachurch leaders came together under the oversight of One Way Ministries to form Respond Ottawa.
Respond Ottawa has been active in assisting during flood seasons, the COVID pandemic and the 2022 derecho event.
Respond Ottawa does not replace or undermine existing relief efforts from government or other organizations. Instead, it looks to identify the gaps in those efforts and find appropriate solutions to those gaps that the churches of Ottawa can help cover.
Respond Ottawa is a volunteer organization that works to prepare, connect and deploy the church of Ottawa. It puts out the call for help to our partner churches, and relies on those churches to mobilize their resources. Respond Ottawa does not respond to every type of crisis, but tends to focus on disaster-related response of an urgent and critical nature.
Some of our participating churches…
Anglican Parish of March
Arabic Evangelical Baptist
Arlington Woods Free Methodist
Bridlewood Community Church
Bromley Road Baptist
Brookside Baptist
Calvary Baptist
Calvary Fellowship
Calvin Christian Reform Church
Chapel Ridge Free Methodist
Church of the Messiah
Community Bible Church Stittsville
Community Life Church
Cornerstone Wesleyan
Eglise Evangelique Baptiste d’Ottawa
Eglise Unie St-Marc
Grace Presbyterian
Highland Park Wesleyan
Hillside Reformed Presbyterian
Kanata Baptist
Kingdom Culture
Knox Presbyterian
Parkway
Pine Grove Bible Church
RCCG Faith Chapel
Russell Reformed Presbyterian
Salvation Army Barrhaven
Sequoia
Shiloh Holiness Church
Smith Falls Free Methodist
Southeast City Church
Sunnyside Wesleyan
The Gathering
The Meeting House Ottawa
The Met
Union City Church
Vineyard Ottawa
West Ottawa Community Church
Westvillage
Woodvale
Zion-Memorial United