Community Arise is being developed by Church World Service (CWS), a non-governmental organization and coordinating agency for 36 U.S. Protestant, Anglican and Orthodox denominations, along with American Baptist Churches, Catholic Charities (U.S.A.), Christian Reformed World Relief Committee, Church of the Brethren, Lutheran Disaster Response, Mennonite Disaster Services, Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, United Church of Christ, and United Methodist Committee on Relief.

Each participating organization brings its own special expertise and experience in disaster ministry to the project.   This cooperative, collaborative, and coordinated training program is a way to both expand capacity and conserve resources. 

By having all their training materials uniform, up-to-date, and originating from the same source, the curriculum developers are seeking to improve the quality of disaster ministry training throughout the religious community and deliver instruction with far greater effectiveness and efficiency.