Provide Safe Houses, Transform Lives Today

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Monique Francois and her family lost their home (pictured) in Haiti’s 2021 earthquake. With your help we were able to build them a new home. (Photo credit: Overture International)

Build a Safe, Sturdy Home and Change a Family’s Future

A tragic number of families in the developing world have never known the simple blessing of sleeping in a safe, sturdy home. Sponsoring the construction of a home for a poor family is one of most powerful ways you can show them the love and mercy of Christ. This life-transforming gift allows parents and their children to sleep soundly each night. No more dirt floors. No more leaky roofs. Fewer sicknesses. And a new sense of dignity. A solid home provides all this and more. Families also see it as an answer to prayer, and their faith grows as a result.

Many families still live in inhumane conditions, so we need to continue with this important mission of mercy. Join us by making the life-changing gift of a house and bless a family in need!

In 2021, Cross Catholic Outreach supporters funded construction for 283 houses, repairs or renovations for 83 houses – and provided safe shelter for 2,270 people!

100 Homes for 100 Families

Restoring Hope in Haiti After the Earthquake

Last August, a 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck southern Haiti and destroyed thousands of homes. Just days later, a tropical storm inflicted even more destruction in the same area. The back-to-back disasters intensified the suffering of children and families already dealing with poverty, the pandemic, an oil shortage and civil unrest.

Junie Jean Denis, a mother of three, lost her home in last summer’s massive earthquake. She’s grateful for their sturdy new house built by Cross Catholic Outreach. (Photo credit: Overture International)

Cross Catholic Outreach has since been building sturdy, earthquake-resistant houses for survivors. The project, launched in late 2021, is already bringing relief to those families, like Junie Jean Denis and her three small children, that were affected. Even before the devastating quake, the family had been living in a dilapidated shelter. After the earthquake, Junie’s family had no choice but to share living space with nine others in a tiny home.

After receiving one of 100 homes being built by Cross Catholic Outreach for earthquake survivors, Junie is grateful for a new start for her family! But others are still hoping and praying for relief.

Our Trusted House-building Partner in Haiti

For 17 years, Espwa has worked with us to bring help and hope

Cross Catholic Outreach has carried out housing projects with Pwoje Espwa (Espwa) in the Les Cayes area since 2005. We are blessed to have a partner in southern Haiti with a stellar record of successful house construction – not a single house built previously by Espwa collapsed in the recent earthquake! Through the years, Cross Catholic Outreach has collaborated with Espwa to bless struggling Haitian families in many ways. In addition to housing projects, Espwa has developed a range of outreaches to provide food, education and medical care to thousands of poor families in the Les Cayes region.

We've helped many earthquake survivors move into safe new homes, but many are still waiting! (Photo credit: Overture International)

The Jimenez-Perez family is grateful for Cross Catholic Outreach donors. Gifts like yours built them a beautiful, safe new home in the Diocese of Santa Rosa de Lima, Guatemala.

Open Your Heart and Help Provide a House

Somewhere in the developing world, your gift of shelter will transform lives

Contributing to Cross Catholic Outreach’s mission to provide families with safe shelter restores lost hope. In places where many have lived in abject poverty for generations, the gift of a new or repaired home shares the mercy of Christ in a tangible, inspiring, life-changing way.

Safe Housing in Nicaragua

Juan Gomez lived in poverty and lacked the resources to improve life for his wife and four children.

As a simple farmer earning just over $3 per day growing crops and raising chickens, Juan barely earned enough to provide food for the family.

Working through Rainbow Network, our in-country ministry partner, we were able to provide the Gomezes with a new home in a better community. What had been an 8-mile walk to school from the family’s previous shanty became 200 yards – meaning Juan’s children are finally getting the education they need in order to overcome poverty.

Sturdy Homes in the Philippines

Before God intervened in their lives through our ministry partner in Manila, Melchor and Marlene Jebulan were struggling to raise their two children in a shack made of plywood and branches.

The makeshift house could not protect them during frequent storms, so they often had to flee to higher ground.
Melchor and Marlene yearned for a safer home, but their meager earnings kept them trapped in extreme poverty.

Thankfully, the family is now safe. Their new concrete-block home, a gift provided by Cross Catholic Outreach donors, protects them from the wind and rain. Now, through the guidance of our in-country Catholic ministry partner, the family has also grown in their faith, attending weekly Mass and participating in other church activities.

New Shelter for the Poor in Ethiopia

In Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, a unique challenge prevents us from using standard materials and building our typical cement homes. Our ministry partner in Ethiopia, the Brothers of Good Works, serve in the city slums, where most land is government owned and heavily regulated. That means a crumbling shanty of mud and sticks cannot be replaced with a concrete house. It can only be repaired or, at best, replaced with a stronger mud house — perhaps with plaster reinforcement and modifications for special-needs family members.

Even still, recipients are supremely grateful for the changes we can offer them.
“Now we are very happy,” says Bekelech Tesfaye, whose house we recently refurbished. “Now we have a proper door with a mirror. We get light and air inside, and the surface is cement, which we can easily clean. We no longer fear that rain will come in. We have a lock now so we can lock the door and go without being afraid we will lose something!”

Help us bless more families with safe, sturdy homes!

The grateful recipients of an Espwa house in Les Cayes, Haiti. (Photo credit to Overture International)

Proceeds from this campaign will be used to cover any expenditures incurred through June 30, 2023, the close of our ministry’s fiscal year. In the event that more funds are raised than needed to fully fund the project, the excess funds, if any, will be used to meet the most urgent needs of the ministry.

What Is Your Legacy Mission?

When you include Cross Catholic Outreach as a beneficiary in your will, trust, retirement account or life insurance policy, you will make a difference for poor communities by meeting both material and spiritual needs for generations to come. Create Your Legacy!