When Natural Disasters Strike…

When the earthquake struck Haiti in January, CWS and its partners mobilized supplies warehoused on the ground in neighboring Santo Domingo. When an earthquake struck Chile the following month, we again responded, this time through our partners on the ground in Santiago.

Each year, hurricane season brings raging floods and landslides that wipe out homes, destroy food production and devastate entire communities in Central America and the Caribbean. CWS LAC is poised to move quickly when these and other disasters strike in the region. We provide financial and material resources to key partners on the ground. We are also a member of ACT Alliance, the global consortium of churches and church-related agencies, which allows us to provide financial support or lend a staff person in coordination with colleague organizations.

CWS LAC has provided emergency supplies such as blankets, food aid and potable water, hygiene and other kits and medicines, to families affected by the disasters.

We remain engaged to help communities rebuild and transition back to development, and we help create local capacity for preparedness, mitigation and response via financial grants, material resources, training and technical assistance.

Indigenous communities participate in formulating government emergency response policies in the Chaco region  [Read More]

Assistance to Refugees

Church World Service assists refugees who are uprooted from their homes by and communities by persecution and armed conflict.

CWS LAC provides support for Colombian refugees displaced by the entrenched armed conflict there as they resettled in Chile. Our partners connect new arrivals with a range of local services. They provide funding for subsistence while refugees settle in, and then help them find a job or create a small business to ensure their financial security. In mid-2009, our partners leveraged funds from the government of Chile to extend this program to 40 new refugees.