National Trust Awards $13.5 Million to Preserve 33 Historically Black Churches in 2026

The African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund, a division of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, awarded $13.5 million in 2026 to support historically Black churches through its Preserving Black Churches program.

The funding came in two rounds. On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the fund awarded $5 million to five churches. A second round of $8.5 million went to 33 churches, bringing the year's total to $13.5 million.

The grants cover a range of needs. Some churches are using the money for structural repairs and building preservation. Others are building endowments to ensure long-term financial stability. A few are funding programming and oral history projects.

Among the recipients is University AME Zion Church in Palo Alto, California, the oldest continuously operating Black church in Silicon Valley, founded in 1918. Shorter AME Church in Denver, Colorado, which was rebuilt after an arson attack believed to be linked to the Ku Klux Klan in 1925, also received funding. Dixwell Avenue Congregational United Church of Christ in New Haven, Connecticut, the oldest recognized African American Congregational Church, founded in 1820, received a grant to preserve its historic stained-glass windows.

The 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, site of the 1963 bombing that killed four young girls, received funding to hire staff and build an endowment. Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia, where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. preached, received support for oral history tours.

The National Trust has now supported more than 170 historically Black churches through the program since its launch.