Project Concern International

Founded 44 years ago by a Coronado doctor, Project Concern is a global health organization that now reaches more than 3 million people every year with its lifesaving programs in 11 countries. Its mission: to build healthy communities by preventing disease and providing access to clean water and nutritious food.

“Health is multidimensional,” says George Guimaraes, president and CEO of Project Concern. “It’s not enough just to give an immunization for a childhood disease. If people don’t have clean water or food available, they’re not going to be healthy.” He stresses that Project Concern does not simply offer aid: “We’re about change, not charity. We mobilize, we train, we educate, we provide the financial resources for communities and community organizations to do the work that needs to be done.”

He recalls one recent effort in which Project Concern helped people in a rural area of Nicaragua install pumps that brought clean water to their village. In the past, families would spend hours each day hauling water to the village in buckets. When they were finished, the village elder embraced Guimaraes and exclaimed, “Thank you, thank you for all you’ve helped us do. Now my daughter can go to school.” Says Guimaraes, “There are stories like that in everything we do every day of the year.”

After the devastating 2004 tsunami, Project Concern was one of the first organizations on the ground offering relief in Indonesia and India, where the organization has been working for 30 years. At present, Project Concern is helping tsunami victims restore their livelihoods and rebuild communities.

Project Concern is also active in and around San Diego. In collaboration with the Mexican Consulate, the organization recently created a program called Ventanilla de Salud, which helps Mexican-Americans who lack health insurance to receive preventive healthcare. Project Heal helps Latina women in San Diego gain access to mental health programs and improves the quality of those programs. The organization also collaborates with healthcare workers on both sides of the border to promote women’s health, control diabetes and prevent the spread of tuberculosis.

Project Concern receives funding from government agencies, corporate sponsors and private donors, with nearly 90 percent of funds going directly to program services. The organization also offers a number of volunteer activities, ranging from delivering program services to assisting with administrative needs. “Hands Across the Border,” Project Concern’s annual fund-raiser, is held every November.

“At the end of the day, our goal is to put ourselves out of business,” says Guimaraes. “Our goal is to empower people to take care of themselves and lead healthy lives after we go.”

For more information about donations or volunteer opportunities, visit the Web site at projectconcern.org.