National Trust Awards 8.5 Million to Preserve Historic Black Churches

The National Trust for Historic Preservation's African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund awarded $8.5 million in grants to 33 Black churches in early 2026, directing money toward the restoration of buildings that have served as spiritual and civic centers for generations.

Among the recipients are two of the most historically significant Black churches in the United States: the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, where a 1963 bombing killed four young girls, and Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. once preached.

The grants are intended to address deteriorating structures that many congregations cannot afford to repair on their own. Aging roofs, crumbling foundations, and outdated electrical systems are common problems at historic Black churches, many of which operate on limited budgets.

Several historically Black Episcopal churches were among the grant recipients, according to the Episcopal News Service. The funds will support restoration work that preserves both the physical buildings and the cultural history they represent.

The African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund was established in 2017 to address what the National Trust called a crisis in the preservation of Black heritage sites. Since its founding, the fund has awarded tens of millions of dollars to churches, schools, and other institutions tied to African American history.

Church leaders who received grants said the money would allow them to keep their doors open and continue serving their communities. Many of the buildings double as community centers, polling locations, and gathering spaces for neighborhood events.