The Cleveland Latin American Mission (CLAM) Team arrives in El Salvador, sent by the Diocese of Cleveland to support parish life.

They begin ministry in Zaragoza, laying the groundwork for what will become COAR.

Óscar Romero is installed as Archbishop of San Salvador.

One month later, his close friend and fellow priest Padre Rutilio Grande is murdered by government militia, and Romero’s response is immediate. He establishes a human rights office, sets up refugee camps, and speaks out against the violence from his Sunday pulpit, broadcast by radio across the country.

Archbishop Romero is shot and killed while saying mass on March 24.

In the chaos that follows, Fr. Ken Myers and CLAM Team members convert parish rooms into the first children’s home, founding COAR that summer and choosing August 15, Romero’s birthday, as Foundation Day.

On December 2, four North American churchwomen, Sr. Dorothy Kazel, Jean Donovan, Sr. Ita Ford, and Sr. Maura Clarke, are raped and murdered by government soldiers while serving refugees. All had worked alongside the children who would become COAR’s first residents.

COAR continues despite the danger.

Starting in 1981 and over the next few years, additional houses are built on a nearby property as the children’s population grows. Each house is named to honor those who gave their lives, and the children who lost theirs, during the war years.

The Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word, Houston, TX (CCVI), join COAR — running the care of the resident children, bringing medical expertise, and building a clinic that serves the entire surrounding community.

COAR Peace Mission is formally established in Cleveland as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, formalizing the North American support network that had existed since the beginning.

Throughout El Salvador’s civil war, COAR never closes. Many other organizations leave the country during this period. COAR stays.

El Salvador passes landmark child protection legislation. Many smaller facilities close. COAR adapts and earns national recognition as a leader in implementing the new child care standards. The Archdiocese of San Salvador takes over direct administration of the Children’s Village.

Óscar Romero is canonized as Saint Óscar Romero by Pope Francis, a recognition long awaited by those who have carried his name and mission for nearly four decades.

COAR continues to shelter, educate, and support resilient children in Zaragoza, in the same community we’ve been working in since 1980.

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