World Relief is a global Evangelical Christian humanitarian organization that seeks to overcome violence, poverty and injustice. Through love in action, they bring hope, healing and restoration to millions of the world's most vulnerable women, men and children through vital programs in disaster response, health and child development, economic development and peacebuilding, as well as refugee and immigration services in the U.S. For 75 years, World Relief has partnered with churches and communities across more than 20 countries to provide relief from suffering and help people rebuild their lives. Founded in 1944, World Relief is now headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland. The organization has offices worldwide including 20 throughout the U.S. It is supported by churches, foundations, and individual donors, as well as through United States Government grants from USAID and other agencies. World Relief reached 7 million beneficiaries with 75,000 volunteers actively engaged in reaching their communities. An estimated 80% of those who directly benefit from World Relief program's are women and children. World Relief works across 7 sectors: health and nutrition, child development, refugee and immigration services, disaster response, economic development, peacebuilding and community resiliency, advocacy and mobilization. World Relief's core programs focus on microfinance, AIDS prevention and care, maternal and child health, child development, agricultural training, disaster response, refugee resettlement and immigrant services. World Relief began in 1944 when American Christian denominations worked together with sister churches in war-torn Europe to address critical humanitarian needs. The National Association of Evangelicals established the War Relief Commission 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 currently in 20 countries and has 20 US offices and serves over 7 million vulnerable people a year. World Relief is organized as a corporation, and the National Association of Evangelicals as the sole shareholder.
Refugee Resettlement Program
One of the functions of World Relief is their refugee 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 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 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."
Decline of Refugee Resettlement Program
On April 2, 2019, World Relief posted on their main website concerning the decline of refugees entering the United States in 2019. According to World Relief, the cause of the decline in refugees was due to changes in United States refugee policies due to the Trump Administrations hand in The Refugee Act and the Presidential Determination. In 2016, the amount of refugees who were resettled in the United States added up to be 84,995, making 2016 the year of the most refugees resettled since 1994. Since 2016, the numbers have decreased. In 2019, the amount of Christian refugees entering the United States has decreased by 48%, and the amount of Muslim refugees has decreased by 90%.
Finances
The majority of World Relief's income comes from government grants. World Relief also receives income from 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 was $16 million as of September 30, 2018.
