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Welcome to the new COAR Peace Mission website!

We stand in solidarity with the people of El Salvador. Here’s how.

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COAR is a home

Where resilient children find family

Simple black icon of a building with a cross, suggesting a medical facility or clinic, on a light blue circular background.

Open continuously for more than 45 years, the COAR Children’s Village is a residential foster care home for resilient children in Zaragoza, El Salvador.

Four people are gathered outdoors on a grassy area with trees, near a sidewalk and a building with a green roof in the background.

A place that has never closed its doors

More than 3,000 children have called the COAR Children’s Village home since 1980.

Many of the children who arrive at COAR have experienced abuse, neglect, or displacement.

What they find here is something they may never have experienced before: a stable, loving place where they are known, cared for, and given room to grow into their strengths.

Even through El Salvador’s civil war and the years of uncertainty that followed, the COAR Children’s Village has always been that place. And it still is today.

A family, not a facility

Life at the Children’s Village is built around the rhythms of a loving family home.

Children live together in small groups of five to ten, each house with a housemother present around the clock. They eat together, do homework together, pray together, and learn to take care of their home and each other.

Regular medical, dental, and psychological support are offered, alongside one of the finest educations in the country (thanks to the COAR School located on the premises).

Three young women standing together indoors, smiling at the camera, with their arms around each other. Two wear white shirts, one wears a black sweatshirt. There are others and decorations in the background.

From decades of experience, we know that the children we shelter are amazingly resilient and inherently capable. It’s our responsibility and privilege to help that resilience bloom.

A young woman with long, curly hair sits at a table, giving a thumbs up and smiling slightly. She is wearing a blue and white striped shirt.

Holistic care for the whole person

The Children’s Village is staffed by around 20 people, including housemothers, a director, psychologists, social workers, and more. Every staff member is highly trained and focused on the wellbeing of the children in their care.

Even with a dedicated team of professionals, the work isn’t easy — particularly for the children themselves, who have lived through significant hardships.

Through our trauma-informed, culturally relevant approach, we work alongside these children as they discover their strength and begin to shape their own future.

Where children's safety comes first

The safety and dignity of every child in our care is non-negotiable.

When El Salvador passed landmark child protection legislation in 2009, many smaller facilities were unfortunately forced to close. COAR instead implemented significant changes to keep our doors open and the legacy of St. Romero alive.

Today, we not only work within these child protection laws but have become a national leader in implementing the policies and procedures necessary to keep children safe.

Because to us, home always means safety.

A group of people stand in two lines facing each other, raising their arms to form an arch while a person walks underneath on a tiled floor in a covered outdoor area.

An environment of growth, learning, and love

Kids deserve a chance to be kids. Our residents are given plenty of opportunities to play, connect, and grow.

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School band
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Sports
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Dance
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Field trips
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Gardening

Our residents' futures are full of hope

One of the most exciting events at the COAR Children’s Village is when past residents come back to share their news: a college acceptance, a first job, a wedding, a child of their own.

They sit with the newer arrivals and show them that moving forward is possible and that the care they’re receiving now is creating the opportunity for a bright future.

This is exactly what a home — a family — is supposed to do.

A girl in a light pink shirt holds two glowing bracelets over her eyes and smiles at a table, with other children and decorations in the background.

Be part of our children's present and future

Every child at COAR is imagining what comes next. Your support helps make the future possible.

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