Silver Spring nonprofit gives a helping hand
around the world

by Lauren Williams

A Sudanese woman with a fuel-efficient stove from CHF International.

The fuel-efficient stove is one of many CHF projects involving Darfur. They provide seed-and-tool kits to promote local agriculture, woodworking and literacy courses in English and Arabic.

The stove initiative is an important “piece of a much larger puzzle,” said Hyman.
Based in Silver Spring, CHF currently operates more than 80 programs in more than 30 countries. When it was first founded in 1952, public service initiatives centered around providing assistance to rural and urban mid- and low-income families in America find affordable housing. CHF broadened its reach in the 1960s and has been an international operative ever since.

They have operations on every continent including Columbia, Haiti, Indonesia, Rwanda, Kenya, Palestine and Iraq. Programs include everything from vocational training to health interventions.

In Ethiopia, CHF is conducting a water sanitation project. “In Iraq, there isn’t an established banking system so people have limited access to credit,” Meer said. CHF uses micro-credit system and issues small loans that can be repaid ranging from $500-$5000. CHF spearheaded the “Stop Aids” campaign in South Africa several years ago, but the vast majority of work there was with providing housing in the townships.

CHF has been in Sudan since 2004 and has initiatives involving livelihood, food security and shelter.

While the Sudan initiative has lasted for three years, CHF does not predetermine the length of their stay.

The goal of the non-profit organization is to help remove what impedes a community’s development, to identify what resources are available and fill in the gaps, Meer said.

“We try to be catalysts…go into the community and find out their needs and help them achieve those goals,” said Hyman.

CHF’s mission is to work themselves out of a job and ensure local non-government organizations can operate and function without their help.
CHF works with the local organizations instead of “going through the back door,” Hyman described. “We have our own staff but we work with the organizations as partners.”

CHF does not claim to be an advocacy group and work transparently with the U.S. and foreign governments.

“The work that we’re doing is important and isn’t changed by politics,” Hyman said.

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