March 2026 Newsletter
Dear Friend —
This month’s update highlights how grassroots leaders—in El Salvador, Haiti, and the Haitian diaspora—are overcoming obstacles to make their voices heard and bring hope to their communities.
Thank you for standing with these courageous leaders.
In solidarity,
Fr. John Baumann and the Faith in Action International team
El Salvador: Leaders Move Ahead Despite Pressure
Last week, we shared the difficult news that, under pressure from the Salvadoran government, the Diocese of Zacatecoluca is ending its almost two-decade relationship with Communities of Faith Organizing for Action (COFOA). However, COFOA is not ending its work or leaving El Salvador.
On Saturday, a planning team of fifty COFOA leaders met to discuss the challenges facing their organization. They set the agenda for a larger meeting on March 28, where 500 leaders from 128 communities will make plans to continue organizing for land rights, water, electricity, education, health care, and dignified livelihoods. They are clear that COFOA is a people’s movement that no government can stop.
COFOA will need to restructure—shifting more responsibility to grassroots leaders, registering a new Salvadoran foundation dedicated to leadership development, and opening a regional office in Panama.
COFOA deeply appreciates your support at this pivotal moment.
Leaders Meet with Officials to Press for Land Titles
On February 28, a team of grassroots COFOA leaders from the El Milagro community met with leaders of El Salvador’s Office of Consumer Affairs to press the government agency to hold developers accountable. The COFOA families are among 350,000 families in El Salvador who have been defrauded of their land titles.
In January, the Salvadoran Attorney General and Minister of Housing delivered 156 more deeds to families defrauded by the Argoz Company, which has been a main target of COFOA’s RENACER Land Rights Campaign.
Despite pressure on COFOA from the government of El Salvador, COFOA leaders remain determined to continue fighting for their land.
➡️ Donate to support continued grassroots organizing in Central America
Haiti: Smallholder Farmers Organize to Shape $35 Million Agriculture Plan in Northern Haiti
Smallholder farmers in northern Haiti are organizing to shape a new $35 million agriculture investment announced by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) for the North and Northeast departments. They’re meeting with IDB and building alliances with other organizations to press for greater support for farmer cooperatives and access to irrigation, quality seeds, tools, and credit.
The People’s Organization for the Development of Haiti (OPODHA) now has leadership teams in 74 communities across the region. Through its campaign “We Plant Today, So We Can Feed Our Families Tomorrow,” farmers have been organizing to address drought, improve food production, and strengthen rural livelihoods.
In late 2025, more than 1,100 farmers participated in a survey documenting their challenges and priorities. OPODHA leaders are now bringing those findings into discussions with the IDB and Haiti’s Ministry of Agriculture to ensure that international investment supports smallholder farmers who form the backbone of Haiti’s food system.
You can read more here about OPODHA’s five-year agricultural organizing campaign and the lessons it offers for rebuilding Haiti’s rural economy.
➡️ Read more about how OPODHA is organizing to shape investment in agriculture
Efforts Intensify to Protect TPS for Haitian Families
Faith in Action and other faith-based organizations are organizing a press conference on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday at noon to support Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitians in the United States.
The stakes are high for Haitian immigrant families and Haiti as the Court reviews an appeal by the Trump Administration to end TPS for 350,000 people. Mass deportations would further destabilize Haiti, cause a humanitarian crisis, and put children and families at grave risk.
Our efforts to build support in Congress to extend Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haiti are gaining momentum. As of this week, 172 Members of Congress — including three Republicans — have signed the Discharge Petition (H.Res. 965) that would allow the House to vote on H.R. 1689, legislation to extend TPS for Haiti.
On Tuesday, March 24, Haitian-American clergy from Florida, Massachusetts, New York, and Ohio will lead a briefing for congressional staff and visit the offices of House members who still have not signed on to the discharge petition.
You can help by asking people you know to contact their Member of Congress — especially if they have not yet signed the discharge petition.
➡️ Take a moment to share this action alert and help protect Haitian families
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