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America’s Mailing Industry

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Catholic Relief Services

The Mail Delivers for Catholic Relief Services

For more than 70 years, the United States Postal Service has been a vital lifeline between Catholic Relief Services and compassionate people who want to make a difference in the lives of poor people overseas. In the past year alone, the U.S. mail enabled CRS to bring lifesaving relief to people faced with war and natural disaster. It also helped us bring clean water, shelter, education, health care and climate-smart agriculture to impoverished communities in 100 countries.

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Catholic Relief Services General Awareness Video

[music]

00:03

Narrator:

It's not about imagining a better world,

00:06

it's about creating one.

00:09

We don't just build shelters.

00:11

We work with the world's poorest communities to create the homes and new beginnings

00:15

they see for themselves.

00:17

We're not here to change for the sake of changing things.

00:21

We're here to walk with our brothers and sisters towards their vision for a better future.

00:27

We're inspired by faith and motivated by the men and women we serve.

00:31

The deeper the problem, the more we immerse ourselves.

00:35

By working alongside people in communities, we hear their voices, we feel their passions.

00:40

By building initiatives with church and local partners, we uncover insights

00:46

into the change they want to see.

00:48

No matter what it takes, at Catholic Relief Services we're committed to creating the blueprints

00:53

for sustainable resilient futures.

00:57

Over time, these changes transform not only communities

01:00

but also the way we work towards change going forward.

01:05

It's not just a house, or a road, or a well that we're building.

01:09

It's how homes lead to neighborhoods, wells lead to farms, farms lead to schools,

01:15

schools lead to equality, innovation, and a better quality of life.

01:20

These are the building blocks for a better world.

01:23

We believe that every person in every corner of the world has something remarkable to offer.

01:30

We believe that all people are created with dignity, that we all deserve a voice, a chance, a future,

01:37

and that everything we do is an opportunity to be a catalyst for change,

01:42

so that we leave behind resilient communities that continue to grow and thrive

01:47

long after we are gone.

01:50

It's not about imagining a better world, it's about creating one.

01:54

At CRS that's what we do.

Every month, some 350,000 households receive updates from CRS through the U.S. mail. It is their mail carrier who delivers news about the impact of their generosity—and fosters the compassion and understanding that saves countless lives and makes the world a more hopeful place. Thanks to the U.S. mail, CRS—one of the largest and most trusted international aid organizations in the world—is able to share stories about the 100 million people who benefit from the generosity of the American people.

CRS was established by American Catholics in 1943 to help European refugees recover from World War II. Today we are on the frontlines of the largest refugee crisis since then—this time from the Middle East into Europe. Now, as then, we rely on the mail to inform people of good will how they can help vulnerable people around the world build a better life.

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Catholic Relief Services Refugee Video

[sounds of a many people talking on a street]

00:02

Program Manager:

All these people, they have exactly the same needs, like anybody else.

[backrouund music]

00:06

And they are humans and our responsibility as a human is to take care of them.

00:14

They are, of course, naturally tired and exhausted but some of them are happy because they are here.

00:20

They managed to get up to this point.

00:23

But also they're trying to find a hope to continue their trip.

00:26

They faced huge, huge, humiliation and danger back in their countries.

00:30

Nobody would take such a risk to travel unless there is something horrible behind them.

00:36

Life in Iraq is very difficult.

00:39

I want a job, and I want a beautiful life for me and my family.

00:49

Any individual country, even Serbia or any others that their people are turned away,

00:54

they cannot do it themselves.

00:55

And the influx its constant and the aid is necessary.

01:00

CRS with its partner Carta, we are providing hygiene supplies.

01:05

In the north of Serbia we are providing temporary shelter.

01:10

We have a doctor who is providing medical care and we have also interpreters for

01:15

a [unintelligible] plan which, available.

01:17

I lived in Bosnia during the war, 1992 to 1995.

01:21

And mostly I remember things that were nice when people were nice to me

01:25

or when something nice happened to me.

01:26

And they will probably remember segments of this.

01:30

And maybe this nice segment with their lives, which they received in Serbia will

01:36

help them to somehow polish all the wounds.

01:40

Like, they will try to probably remember only the best things

As the official humanitarian agency of the Catholic community of the United States, our faith inspires us to inspire others—to inspire change, to build resilience and to break the cycle of poverty.

To learn more, visit crs.org.

Emergency Response and Recovery

CRS Iraq Refugees
Photo by Kim Pozniak/CRS

Hundreds of thousands of families in the Middle East have lost homes, families—everything—to ongoing conflict. CRS is working with our Church partners to assist families seeking a better life within the region and in Europe. Our support helps provide shelter, job assistance and training, and trauma counseling and education for children. These children attend a CRS child support center in northern Iraq.

To learn more about our response to the refugee crisis in Europe, watch this video.

Agricultural Livelihoods

A CRS agricultural program, Madagascar
Photo by Sara A. Fajardo/CRS

Hunger has long-term consequences on a person’s health, development and ability to earn a living. CRS agricultural programs help nearly 5 million people in countries like Madagascar grow nutritious food using innovative techniques that improve their yields—and increase their incomes.

Health

A CRS child health program, South Sudan
Photo by Sara A. Fajardo/CRS

CRS child health programs—which include prenatal care and well-baby checkups—ensure that babies in 40 countries around the world, like this child in South Sudan, have a healthy start.

Education

A CRS Education program, Laos
Photo by Jim Stipe/CRS

CRS’ literacy program in Laos uses school lunches as an incentive to keep students in school. Our education projects, which include early childhood development, school lunch programs and primary, secondary and higher education in formal and informal settings, reach nearly 6 million people in more than 30 countries.

Water and Sanitation

A CRS Water program, Ghana
Photo by Jennifer Hardy/CRS

CRS has helped more than 2 million people in countries like Ghana, where water is often scarce or unclean, gain access to clean water. We also support hygiene education and sanitation facilities to keep families and communities healthy.

Microfinance

A CRS Microfinance program, Mexico
Photo by Christian Melendez-López/CRS

CRS Savings and Internal Lending Communities, or SILCs, help communities save, pool and borrow money so they can support their families—and build a future. SILCs have created economic opportunities for nearly 3 million people in some of the world’s poorest countries. These women in Mexico are using the money they’ve saved to grow their cactus business.

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