World Relief (officially, World Relief Corporation of National Association of Evangelicals) is an

Evangelical Christian Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual expe ...

humanitarian nongovernmental organization, the humanitarian arm of the National Association of Evangelicals and a leading refugee resettlement agency. The administrative headquarters is in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore wa ...

. There are 17 regional offices throughout the United States and 9 international offices.

History

World Relief was founded as a Commission in 1944 by the

National Association of Evangelicals The National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) is an association of evangelical denominations, organizations, schools, churches and individuals, member of the World Evangelical Alliance. The association represents more than 45,000 local churches ...

to send clothing and food to victims of World War II. After the war, evangelical leaders decided that the War Relief Commission should continue working in post-war Europe and around the world. In 1950, the agency was renamed World Relief and began to focus on other areas of development, providing sewing machines and training so war widows could earn a living, setting up TB clinics, and supporting orphanages and land reclamation projects. World Relief is organized as a corporation, and the

as the sole

shareholder A shareholder (in the United States often referred to as stockholder) of a corporation is an individual or legal entity (such as another corporation, a body politic, a trust or partnership) that is registered by the corporation as the legal o ...

. Myal Greene is currently the President/CEO (2021-Present).

Programs

International Programs

World Relief's core programs focus on

microfinance Microfinance is a category of financial services targeting individuals and small businesses who lack access to conventional banking and related services. Microfinance includes microcredit, the provision of small loans to poor clients; savings ...

, AIDS prevention and care, maternal and child health, child development, agricultural training, disaster response, refugee resettlement and immigrant services.

U.S. Programs

World Relief currently has 17 regional offices (some with multiple locations) throughout the United States, which provide refugee resettlement and immigrant services.

Refugee Resettlement Program

One of the functions of World Relief is their

refugee A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution.

resettlement program. There are currently more refugees in the world than there ever has been since World War II, and World Relief aims to help those affected by crises around the world. World Relief aims to help refugees as soon as a refugee and their families are forced to flee their home, starting by providing essentials to the families, such as clean water and food. World Relief then tries to help the refugees regain potential lost hope and hopefully grow even further by offering family strengthening programs. World Relief also seeks to help refugees find an affordable home and find a job. Because World Relief is headquartered in the United States, World Relief also tries to help refugees learn English, if they do not know it already. Since 1979, World Relief has successfully relocated and supported over 300,000 refugees in the United States. World Relief uses the definition of refugee from

international law International law (also known as public international law and the law of nations) is the set of rules, norms, and standards generally recognized as binding between states. It establishes normative guidelines and a common conceptual framework for ...

. International law defines a refugee as someone who flees their state for fear of being persecuted for one or more of five traits: "their race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group."

Refugees Resettled by World Relief

Clemantine Wamariya Joyful Clemantine Wamariya (born 1988) is a Rwandan-American author, speaker, and human rights advocate . Born in Rwanda, she was forced to leave her home in Kigali and her parents at the age of six due to the Rwandan Genocide. She sought refuge ...

, author of ''The Girl Who Smiled Beads: A Story About War and What Comes After''

Finances

The majority of World Relief's income comes from

government grant A grant is a fund given by an end entity grant – often a public body, charitable foundation, or a specialised grant-making institution – to an individual or another entity (usually, a non-profit organisation, sometimes a business or a local ...

s.World Relief Corporation
. '' USAspending.gov''. Retrieved March 14, 2020. World Relief also receives income from private grants, contributions, travel loan commissions, client fees, consulting contracts, banking revenue, rent, and sales of assets. World Relief awarded approximately $11 million of grants and other assistance during fiscal year 2018. It also spent approximately $33 million in compensation of its employees. World Relief's

net worth Net worth is the value of all the non-financial and financial assets owned by an individual or institution minus the value of all its outstanding liabilities. Since financial assets minus outstanding liabilities equal net financial assets, net ...

was $16 million as of September 30, 2018.

Leadership

* Myal Greene, President/CEO (2021-Present) * Tim Breene, former

Chief Executive Officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especiall ...

* Scott Arbeiter, former

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

* Kevin Sanderson,

Chief Administrative Officer A chief administrative officer (CAO) is a top-tier executive who supervises the daily operations of an organization and is ultimately responsible for its performance. Government and non-profit A CAO is responsible for administrative management of ...

Chief Financial Officer The chief financial officer (CFO) is an officer of a company or organization that is assigned the primary responsibility for managing the company's finances, including financial planning, management of financial risks, record-keeping, and fina ...

* Steve Moore,

Chairperson The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

* Kathy Vaselkiv, Vice Chair * Bill Westrate,

Treasurer A treasurer is the person responsible for running the treasury of an organization. The significant core functions of a corporate treasurer include cash and liquidity management, risk management, and corporate finance. Government The treasury ...

* Rev. Dr. Casely Essamuah,

Secretary A secretary, administrative professional, administrative assistant, executive assistant, administrative officer, administrative support specialist, clerk, military assistant, management assistant, office secretary, or personal assistant is a ...

References

External links

* {{Authority control Emergency organizations Evangelical parachurch organizations International charities Microfinance organizations Poverty-related organizations Health charities in the United States Religious organizations based in the United States Medical and health organizations based in Maryland Humanitarian aid organizations Refugee aid organizations in the United States Christian refugee aid organizations Christian humanitarian aid organizations Christian charities Christian relief organizations