Partnering Local Organizations
The Union Church partners with various non-government organizations (NGO's) and faith based groups in El Salvador to serve the people in the country in a variety of ways. There are also a number of our members who serve in the following institutions.
Love Link
The Love Link was born out of the desire to give love, protection, and food to malnourished children in El Salvador. In El Salvador the incidence of infant malnutrition (children under five years of age) in 1990 was 50% (430,500 children). Of this number 15.2% (132,700 children) suffer from moderate and severe malnutrition (according to weight and age). Malnutrition primarily affects infants between 6 and 36 months of age (65.8% of the malnourished). There has not been a notable improvement in these figures in recent years. This implies that a large part of the pediatric population is at a great risk of contracting disease and dying if they do not receive nutritional intervention in time to permit their recuperation. They must regain not only their state of health and nutrition but also their potential for growth and development. This ministry was founded, and is still run by Sam and Julie Hawkins, both who attend Union Church. Learn more at their website.
My Father's House
The vision of My Father's House is to follow our Lord Jesus Christ in establishing permanent homes for the street/abandoned children of San Salvador, providing a place where they have the opportunity to live and grow in a loving Christian atmosphere, that is clean, safe and healthy.
Since 1993, ENLACE has been equipping church and community leaders to identify, design and manage sustainable initiatives in El Salvador. ENLACE has worked with community leaders to develop health, infrastructure and economic community development initiatives. Such initiatives include five water systems (benefiting over 15,000 people), micro-loans (1,600 loans totaling more than one million dollars), preventative health education, health clinics (250 people served per month), new block homes for more than 220 families, sanitation facilities for more than 300 families and many more sustainable projects.
Homies Unidos was created in 1996 in El Salvador by rival gang members who came together to find a better and safer life without violence. The organization is dedicated to providing educational and employment opportunities for young men and women (ages 8-35, although a majority are under the age of 24), so that they can find ways out of their violent lifestyle.
USAID requests funds for the four Strategic Objective programs within of economic growth and education, democracy and governance, health, and water and environment. In response to the massive earthquakes, USAID recently established a Special Objective program for a comprehensive reconstruction effort. The overall goal of USAID's program remains rural poverty reduction, and the primary focus is on poor women, youth, and children residing in rural areas. USAID is helping to get the rural sector back on its feet through microfinance, marketing, and rural infrastructure programs, in addition to increasing access to quality early childhood education in rural areas. USAID is also fostering continued democratic development by reinforcing the rule of law, and promoting active citizen participation and representation in government. USAID programs contribute to improving primary health care and reducing child mortality, strengthening and expanding reproductive health and family planning, and helping control HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis (TB) and dengue. USAID is also increasing access of rural residents to safe water via improving watershed management and expanding water distribution systems.
Today, Peace Corps Volunteers coordinate with local municipalities, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and community groups to develop better water systems, make health and sanitation improvements, provide environmental education, and assist municipal development projects. In the aftermath of the earthquakes, Volunteers have played a key role in providing damage assessments of their sites, which have assisted the government and local NGOs in facilitating the distribution of resources to the most affected communities.
Living Water El Salvador drills clean, deep water wells that are filtered by gravel and completely sealed to stop all contaminants entering from ground level. These wells have stood up to the massive earthquakes of 2001 and cannot be contaminated by flood waters. Usually, a hand pump is installed, but mechanical pumps and storage tanks with distribution systems have also been employed. One health promoter in Usulatan noted that the number of cases of diarrhea that he witnessed each month dropped from 35 to under 5 after the installation of an LWES well.
"The Fuller Center for Housing, faith driven and Christ centered, promotes collaborative and innovative partnerships with individuals and organizations in an unrelenting quest to provide adequate shelter for all people in need worldwide."
Habitat for Humanity El Salvador is a nonprofit, ecumenical Christian housing organization working in partnership with people in need to build and renovate decent, affordable housing. The houses then are sold to those in need at no profit and with no interest charged.