Our History

The 1960s were turbulent times, with racial tension felt in Omaha and across the country. Times were changing, and people everywhere were organizing to address social issues in new ways. The United Methodist Church in Nebraska was prompted to establish a new organization called United Methodist Ministries following the race riots in Omaha the summer of 1966. The Rev. Jerry Elrod was the first Executive Director, and UMM became the first faith-based organization in the area created to confront social injustice.

Funding was initially designated for justice work in general, and the dismantling of racism in particular. At the historic Annual Conference of 1969, the United Methodist Church resolved to offer reconciliation and support for minority groups suffering from discrimination. This was manifested in the early 1970s by practical support for businesses and community centers in minority neighborhoods, including Wesley House, which still operates in north Omaha.

Following the devastating tornado of 1975, United Methodist Ministries partnered with other faith groups to form a new emergency assistance organization known as Together, Inc. In the succeeding years, UMM served as a connecting point and fiscal agent for a number of congregation-based programs, including community centers, neighborhood housing and after-school programs.

In the 1990s UMM helped establish a free immigration clinic, Justice For Our Neighbors, which has now emerged as a stand-alone non-profit. UMM has transitioned in recent years to providing direct services, maintaining a focus on the eradication of hunger, poverty and racism. Due to structural changes in the United Methodist Church, the region served has grown from the Omaha metropolitan area to an eleven-county area running from north of Omaha to the Kansas border.

In 2005, current Executive Director Rev. Stephanie Ahlschwede launched The Big Garden project with the objective of improving local food security for the most food-insecure populations in urban Omaha. The metropolitan Omaha area is the location of the only federally designated Enterprise Zone in Nebraska, an economically distressed, inner-city area targeted for revitalization which is home to many communities of color for whom racism is a factor in food insecurity. The Big Garden network of community vegetable gardens is an effort to directly benefit neighborhood residents by helping them take control of their food systems. This project is expanding in 2009 to include rural communities in southeast Nebraska, with a focus on vegetable gardens, farmer’s markets and food pantries.

Recent program additions also include the creation of the Volunteers In Mission program and sponsorship of service events such as Global Youth Service Day and Stand Up Against Poverty. In 2009 the Martin Luther King Day of Service was held in Omaha for the first time, and a new Dismantling Racism Through the Arts program was launched with the Martin Luther King Day of the Arts for Youth.