What We Do
What makes someone a refugee? What evidence are we seeing of climate change? How does CWS respond when a disaster hits? Are we making progress in the fight against hunger?
And, most importantly: how can I help?
Explore the sections of our website below to find the answers to these questions, and many more.
Latest Updates
From Ukraine to Myanmar: How Your Support Reached Communities in Crisis
In 2025, your compassion reached more than 123,000 people worldwide affected by conflict, climate‑driven disasters and humanitarian emergencies. Your support brought lifesaving essentials, long‑term recovery resources and renewed hope to communities across the globe. Around the world, families continue to face crises that uproot homes, disrupt livelihoods and threaten their safety. Whether caused by conflict, extreme weather or sudden disasters, these emergencies can leave entire communities …
Where a Familia Plants a Future: Growing Stability Through Faith and Hard Work
Through the CWS-supported Produce Verde project, one family is transforming their livelihood, strengthening their unity and inspiring their community through sustainable farming practices. As the first morning light creeps over the horizon, the Maldonado family’s routine is already underway. Their day begins with prayer, followed by a shared breakfast before they step into the fields and corrals that sustain their livelihood. What grows here is more than …
The Strength of Perseverance: How Orfelina is Helping Communities Thrive
Through faith, humility and hands‑on support, agricultural technician Orfelina Portillo is helping families in rural Honduras transform their livelihoods—building sustainable farms, healthier homes and a stronger, more connected community. Supporting Rural Families Through Sustainable Farming in Honduras Orfelina Portillo once defined herself as part of the “arm that feeds the world.” Now, after three years of dedication to the Produce Verde project, she has become …
Global Water Scarcity: How Communities Are Overcoming Water Challenges
Everyone deserves access to clean water, yet for millions around the world, safe drinking water and proper sanitation remain out of reach. From collapsed infrastructure and poor management to conflict and climate change, several factors contribute to families being unable to access their right to safe water. Rising global temperatures and extreme weather events are making clean water scarcer and …
Women Rising in Arid Lands: Resilience, Leadership and the Fight for Gender Justice
CWS’s recent gender analysis in arid and semi-arid lands in Kenya shows that climate pressures are deepening existing gender inequalities, while also revealing that women’s leadership is central to building resilient households and communities. Women and girls in arid and semi-arid lands in Kenya are experiencing some of the harshest effects of climate change. As drought deepens and rainfall becomes unpredictable, families face growing threats to food security and …