National Trust Invests $13.5 Million to Preserve Historically Black Churches

The African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund, a division of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, has invested $13.5 million in 2026 to support historically Black churches across the United States.

The funding comes through the Preserving Black Churches program, now in its fourth year. The most recent round awarded $8.5 million to 33 churches. An earlier $5 million grant went to five churches on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Grants support a range of needs, including capital structural repairs, endowment creation, financial sustainability planning, and interpretation and programming initiatives. Recipients span multiple states, including California, Colorado, Florida, New York, and Virginia.

Among the recipients are the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, the site of the 1963 bombing that killed four young girls during the civil rights movement, and the New Jerusalem Baptist Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, a community anchor with deep roots in the Greenwood District.

Program leaders say the funding addresses a critical gap. Many historically Black churches own significant properties but lack the financial resources to maintain them. Without intervention, some of these buildings face deterioration or loss.

The Preserving Black Churches program frames these institutions as anchors for Black faith, democracy, and community history. Organizers say the churches are not just religious sites but living records of African American life, resistance, and culture.

Applications for future grant cycles are open to churches that can demonstrate historical significance and a plan for long-term sustainability.