El Salvador: From direct relief to policy change

The people of El Salvador are in distress, quarantined by COVID-19, suffering deadly flooding, and many are unable to care for their families. COFOA is responding in this moment of multiple crises by collecting and distributing food and water to the most vulnerable families in their communities. Knowing this is an interim fix, they are pressing local and national politicians to come together to meet the long term need of the people.

The urgency of COFOA’s LOVE (Lideres Organizados por sus Valores y Esperanza – Leaders Organized for Values and Hope) to meet the needs of the most vulnerable because of the COVID quarantine is now more pressing as thousands are suffering from deadly flooding. For the past month, staff and leaders have been reaching out to families in more than twenty municipalities, large and small, to check on how people are doing during quarantine and identify those most in-need. With the “Love Campaign,” leaders are collecting and distributing food and supplies, while sharing information about available legal, counseling, and other supportive services. COFOA has helped more than 500 families so far. Knowing that voluntary resources will not be sufficient, COFOA leaders are reaching out to public health workers and mayors to find out their plans to meet the health and survival needs of their communities. With government officials using the crisis to be even more elusive, COFOA is pressing to make sure that special funding from the central government to local municipalities reaches those most in need. COFOA communities in Soyapango, San Juan Opico, Ostuma, San Luis Talpa and other communities are pressing local officials to dig wells and provide potable water, while COFOA continues to work in coalition for a national water law guaranteeing water as a human right.

Please register here to join us for a Zoom Conference on June 26th at 10 AM (West Coast time) to learn more about how COFOA is organizing families to help one another access food and water during this time of pandemic and natural disaster and press the government to make these needs a national priority in the future.

Executive Director Alberto Velazquez and organizing staff will share how relationships COFOA built through years of organizing are enabling leaders to check in on people, support prevention measures, and provide food for those without resources. Learn how leaders, even during the pandemic, are pressing officials to care for the basic needs of people without food and to allocate funds for public improvements including access to potable water. Learn how COFOA is expanding its work nationally to build the political power needed to press legislators for a national water law. Learn how you can join Faith in Action, COFOA, and our allies and supporters in solidarity with the people of El Salvador.

Learn how you can join Faith in Action, COFOA, and our allies and supporters in solidarity with the people of El Salvador.

Please register here. We will meet online/on-the-phone via Zoom. You will be able to participate through video on a computer or phone OR by calling into a number on your phone.