Our Work
Our vision is a world where everyone has food, voice and a safe place to call home.
After seven decades moving towards this goal, CWS has the faith and experience to know it’s possible. Working around the world, we’ve seen gardens flourishing in barren land. Migrants and refugees finding home even after every door seems to have been closed. Houses standing strong against nature’s worst disasters. That’s the power of your compassion at work when it links to human resilience.
Latest Updates
Building Latrines in Nam Vai Village Vietnam
In the village of Nam Vai, high in the mountains of Phuc Than commune in Vietnam, 80 families from the Mong ethnic minority group live with minimal access to water and sanitation. As of June 2021 only 10 families in the village had latrines, with most villagers relieving themselves daily along streams and forest edges. Trang Thi So, 27, and …
Helpful supplies when they were needed most
When Cyclone Seroja slammed into Timor-Leste and Indonesia in April 2021, it caused devastating flash flooding and landslides. Nearly half a million people were affected, including a death toll of 179 and 11,406 people who were displaced due to damaged or destroyed homes. Elisabeth Hoar and her 7-year-old granddaughter, Agnes, were among those who were forced from their homes. Agnes’s …
Updated Emergency Appeal: Haiti Earthquake
Appeal Code: 6773 This serves as an update to the Preliminary Emergency Appeal, issued on August 20. Situation A major 7.2-magnitude earthquake struck Haiti on Saturday, August 14. This disaster killed at least 2,248 people and injured more than 12,700. It destroyed buildings and infrastructure, impacting hundreds of thousands of people. Days later, Tropical Storm Grace compounded the situation, bringing …
CWS to Open New Offices and Programs to Welcome Refugees and Afghan Evacuees Across Nation
New York City—Church World Service today announced that it will open new offices and programs in 10 sites across the nation to welcome Afghan evacuees and refugees rebuilding their lives in the United States via the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program. As one of the nine U.S. resettlement agencies, CWS is expanding its capacity for welcome, responding to the worst displacement …
Lessons from Yola: Don’t let your Limitations stop your Dreams
Yolanda Atri Neng Sae, who goes by Yola, is an only child. She lives with her parents in West Timor, Indonesia. Unfortunately, Yola has faced a lot of challenges in her life. When she was little, she was sick a lot. Her parents struggled financially, barely making a living by farming. They couldn’t afford to pay both medical bills and …