2023 Through Stories

News & Updates | Posted Monday, December 11, 2023

As members of the communications team at CWS, we have the privilege of seeing the state of the world through the eyes of all the clients and program participants we meet. This past year, we met refugees who fled devastating wars, changemakers in rural Georgia who have seen the effects of climate change first-hand, unaccompanied immigrant children who were forced …

CWS Marks Thanksgiving by Honoring Those Committed to Welcome, Calling for Peace in the Middle East

News & Updates | Posted Thursday, November 23, 2023

Washington, D.C.—Church World Service today marked Thanksgiving by expressing its gratitude for American communities, congregations and volunteers that have supported its work to transform communities around the globe through just and sustainable responses to hunger, poverty, displacement and disaster. As CWS reflects on the past year, the organization is thankful for all of its supporters, and all they have done …

My First Capitol Hill Experience

News & Updates | Posted Wednesday, November 15, 2023

As a child, I had been to Washington, D.C. many times, always seeing the Capitol building from afar and never up close. I remember staring at it in all its grandeur and imagining all the powerful decision-making taking place behind closed doors. I never imagined I would step foot inside the building several years later. That all changed the morning …

Annual Report 2023

ANNUAL REPORT 2023 MENUDear CWS friends, As a vital part of the CWS family, you know that together we speak up for our communities with everything we’ve got. One core value we champion is that everyone deserves a safe place to call home. This year, too many families have lost their safe homes. Inflation and rising food prices have made …

Lifting Each Other Up, One Step at Time

News & Updates | Posted Wednesday, October 11, 2023

Since he first learned about CWS CROP Hunger Walks about 15-20 years ago, Don Harter has always been up for a challenge. He recalls the first time he learned about the walks, thinking to himself, “Well, how hard can that be?” He rallied his church, Broadway Christian Church in Columbia, Missouri, and they attended their first-ever walk. This was the …

Community-Driven Transformation: A Theological Perspective

News & Updates | Posted Thursday, July 20, 2023

A Letter to the Church in America  Dear American Church, I am writing to you today with deep concern for the vulnerable among us, drawing inspiration from the teachings of the Apostle Paul in his letters to the early Christian communities. As Paul exhorted the Roman Christians to live transformed lives in Christ, I want to urge the church in …

CWS’ Helping Hand

News & Updates | Posted Monday, March 13, 2023

The first time Becky Gifford remembers hearing about CWS was in the late 1960s/early 1970s when her church participated in CROP Hunger Walks. Today, she is married to a methodist minister who is well acquainted with CWS, thanks to our longstanding partnership with UMCOR. She remembers hearing about CWS again in adulthood and thinking, “aha! That’s what that was.” Over …

“Trail of Tears”: a Christmas Reflection on the Border

News & Updates | Posted Tuesday, December 20, 2022

Two boys drove me down to the border this month. At the Port Authority Bus Terminal set up by the border by Texas Governor Abbot, I saw a ten-month-old who was kept warm by only a Church World Service blanket. His mom, who might be from Venezuela, wore a light dress on a cold fall day. She was focused only …

2022 Annual Report

ANNUAL REPORT 2022 MENUSince our start in 1946, CWS has been a faith-led organization that believes we are stronger when we stand together, especially in the midst of challenging times. 2022 has been challenging – from natural disasters and war to unprecedented levels of hunger amid an ongoing global pandemic. Yet we continue the path we began all those years …

United States

United StatesEvery family has the right to live in safety and dignity. CWS has been welcoming refugees and asylum seekers to the United States since the 1940s. And the need is greater now than it has been in decades. From the moment refugee families arrive in the United States, we help meet their needs. We also make sure they have …