“It Takes Cash to Care”: A Senior Pastor Says Churches That Shelter Storm Victims Need State Funding

• Pastor Dr Donville Bell called for state funding for churches’ disaster work
• Churches opened their buildings as shelters during Hurricane Melissa
• He wants churches formally included in hurricane preparedness plans
• No specific dollar amount was proposed

When Hurricane Melissa struck in October 2025, many Jamaican churches opened their buildings as emergency shelters, handed out care packages, cooked meals and offered counselling. In June 2026, as a new hurricane season began, a senior clergyman argued that this role should be recognised — and paid for.

Pastor Dr Donville Bell, chairman of the Word Power Ministry Board, told the Observer that the government should provide state funding for faith-based social outreach and formally include churches in disaster response frameworks.

“The church is one of the first points of contact for struggling families and displaced persons long before they reach a government agency,” Bell said. He noted that churches partner with state agencies and community groups during crises, yet often operate with limited or no financial resources. “It takes cash to care,” he said. He did not propose a specific amount.

Bell’s call has a property dimension. A church that serves as a shelter needs a roof that can withstand a storm, working bathrooms, water storage, a generator and safe electrical wiring. Those are capital costs, and they fall on congregations whose own buildings may have been damaged.

The debate over public money for churches has been sharp since Melissa, with critics arguing that taxpayers should not fund religious institutions. Bell’s argument shifts the focus from worship to function: if church halls are going to be used as public shelters, someone has to pay to make them fit for that purpose.

For churches, the practical step is to know what their buildings can safely do in an emergency and to document it. For the diaspora, helping a home church harden its hall — a stronger roof, a water tank, solar power — is an investment that serves the whole community when the next storm comes.

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