With CREDO funding, Mercy Corps is empowering people to survive through crisis

Working alongside local communities, our grantees at Mercy Corps respond to the world’s toughest challenges, providing immediate life-saving support to meet the urgent needs of today as well as opportunities and community well-being for a stronger tomorrow.

In August 2021, CREDO members voted to distribute $40,440 to help Mercy Corps empower people to survive through crisis and transform their communities for good, respond quickly to urgent humanitarian needs and pivot to recovery building. Since 1999, CREDO has donated a total of $387,172 to the organization thanks to our members.

Here are a few of the organization’s accomplishments thanks to CREDO’s financial support:

From providing clean water to distributing small business grants, Mercy Corps has prioritized helping people recover and build resilience in the second year of a global health crisis. Many of the communities the organization supports have been facing challenges like climate change, natural disasters, hunger, and conflict. COVID‑19 made it more difficult to rebuild lives and livelihoods—but it isn’t impossible. 

In 2021, Mercy Corps teams reached over 50 million people in more than 40 countries to meet urgent needs, support sustainable livelihoods, and build stronger communities. Working alongside communities, the group provided critical support for people hardest hit by the pandemic, economic turmoil, conflict, and disasters, like the August 2021 earthquake in Haiti. 

As the group confronted unequal COVID‑19 vaccine distribution across the world, Mercy Corps continued to advocate for more equitable vaccine allocation while delivering prevention campaigns, which included distributing hygiene kits and raising awareness.

Here are some more projects that CREDO funding helped make possible:

Responding to the crisis in Ukraine

Mercy Corps is on the ground in Ukraine, Romania, and Poland, providing funding and support to local organizations in their relief efforts and delivery of humanitarian aid. They are working with partners to provide emergency cash assistance, allowing those affected to meet their most pressing needs as well as providing up-to-date information in multiple languages to families on the move.

Mercy Corps provided humanitarian assistance in Ukraine following the 2014 conflict, helping over 200,000 people with emergency cash, food, water, and sanitation supplies.

Hear Mercy Corps’ CEO Tjada D’Oyen McKenna on the Masters of Scale podcast discussing Mercy Corps’ response in Ukraine, as well as their continued response to conflicts in Nigeria, the Sahel, Afghanistan, Syria, and elsewhere. 

Responded to the Haiti earthquake

On August 14, 2021, a magnitude 7.2 earthquake hit Haiti. Days later, Tropical Storm Grace caused mudslides, cutting off roads. But Mercy Corps team members worked nonstop to help even the most remote communities. Today, Mercy Corps has delivered urgent supplies to 15,000+ Haitians, while paving the way to long-term recovery.

Published research about the effect of COVID-19 on global conflict

While there have been medical, economic, and cultural shifts due to the impact of the COVID‑19 crises, limited research remains as to the effect of the pandemic on conflict—especially from the perspectives of communities who directly experience its repercussions. To fill this gap, Mercy Corps research and crisis analytics teams jointly led a year of in-depth research for its “Clash of Contagions” report, published in August 2022. The group spoke to over 600 men and women in Colombia, Nigeria, and Afghanistan—representing a cross section of communities in the more than 40 countries where its teams work. What its interviewees told them is that COVID‑19 has exacerbated existing tensions and challenges in ways that are not obvious or expected.

Merged with Energy 4 Impact

In September 2022, Mercy Corps and Energy 4 Impact announced a merger to join forces to increase access to climate-smart, sustainable energy, improving the lives of millions of people around the world. Today, more than 800 million people lack access to energy globally, 8 in 10 of whom live in “fragile” states where communities also face a myriad of complex challenges related to conflict, weak governance, and insecurity, as well as the growing impacts of climate change. Mercy Corps and Energy 4 Impact will together create opportunities to increase energy access and use for the communities that need them most, and to integrate energy into sectors such as agricultural development, economic growth, youth employment, humanitarian recovery, and climate resilience. ​​

Responded to a volcanic eruption in Indonesia

Mount Semeru, one of Indonesia’s most active volcanoes, erupted on December 4, killing more than 30 people and forcing thousands to flee from their homes. The group’s Indonesian Response Team was able to quickly respond, constructing clean water access points for displaced families; distributing emergency relief supplies; and partnering with community members and local leaders to build a long-term recovery plan.

Advocated for urgently needed climate adaption funding

At The New York Times’ October 2021 “Netting Zero” virtual event series leading up to #COP26 in Glasgow, Tjada conveyed the urgency of climate adaptation to help the communities already facing the impacts of the climate crisis today: 

If you’d like to learn more or get involved with Mercy Corps’ important work, please visit their website, or follow them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.