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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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Our Approach

Partners in faith and solidarity

Working from within the community

Many organizations talk about serving a community. At COAR, we talk about being one.

We have always been part of where we work, deeply embedded in the community of Zaragoza, trusted by the Archdiocese of San Salvador, and accountable to the children and families who live there.

Our approach is to strengthen the community from within. Rather than seeking to build something for the community, we nourish what is already there.

What Is COAR?
Children wearing colorful, handmade hats and holding balloons participate in a festive street parade, surrounded by adults and other onlookers.

How we approach our work

Black atom-like icon with a central circle, six oval petals, and small dots on each petal, set against a pale peach irregular background.

Community-embedded

Our work is implemented by Salvadoran experts who live and work in the community of Zaragoza. This local team knows the families, the culture, and the context in ways no outside organization can replicate.

See How We Work Together →
A black heart with the word COAR written in white, set against a light blue irregular circular background.

Locally empowered

While the Cleveland team provides financial and other material support, the COAR Children’s Village and school are led by in-country directors with their own professional autonomy.

Explore the COAR School →
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Led by a shared faith

COAR’s work is guided by the Catholic tradition of service and dignity for every person and is administered in collaboration with the Archdiocese of San Salvador.

Learn About Our History →
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Professionally committed

The children at COAR receive care from housemothers, psychologists, and social workers who are trained to the highest standards of child welfare in El Salvador.

Check Out the Children's Village →

The children at COAR are resilient, capable, and moving forward. Our role is to walk alongside them and provide the stability, education, care, and community that make a better future possible.

A map of North America with a yellow heart in the U.S. and another in Central America, connected by a dashed yellow line.

United by faith and purpose, from Cleveland to Zaragoza

COAR Peace Mission, based in Wickliffe, Ohio, is the North American arm of COAR’s work. As a 501c(3) nonprofit, we handle outreach, fundraising, and program support, serving as the bridge between donors in the United States and the team doing the work on the ground in El Salvador.

We are small by design. Every dollar raised goes toward the children and programs in Zaragoza, managed by the people who know them best.

Meet the Team
Explore the School

Supporting and strengthening local expertise

25+

Dedicated in-country staff at the Children’s Village

1,100+

K–12 students enrolled at the COAR school

1964

Year the Cleveland Latin American Mission Team first arrived in El Salvador

Our Impact
A group of young students in blue uniforms pose with hands together in prayer in front of a decorated statue and greenery, with a teacher standing at the left.
Two young women in white shirts arrange fruit plates with grapes and watermelon slices on a table at an indoor event.
A group of young children in school uniforms with backpacks stand on stairs, holding red paper hearts, with an adult supervising nearby.
A group of young children in matching outfits walk in a parade, wearing colorful decorated hats and holding balloon sculptures, accompanied by adults on a city street.

St. Romero stood with this community.

So do we. So can you.

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