International Orthodox Christian Charities, Inc. (or IOCC), based in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore wa ...

, is the official international

humanitarian Humanitarianism is an active belief in the value of human life, whereby humans practice benevolent treatment and provide assistance to other humans to reduce suffering and improve the conditions of humanity for moral, altruistic, and emotional ...

agency of the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the United States of America. Since its inception in 1992, IOCC has distributed emergency relief and

development assistance Development aid is a type of foreign/international/overseas aid given by governments and other agencies to support the economic, environmental, social, and political development of developing countries. Closely-related concepts include: developm ...

to families and communities in more than 60 countries. IOCC does not provide funds for Church missions such as

religious education In secular usage, religious education is the teaching of a particular religion (although in the United Kingdom the term ''religious instruction'' would refer to the teaching of a particular religion, with ''religious education'' referring to t ...

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

work. All funds collected by the agency (minus administrative expenses) are instead used for

humanitarian aid Humanitarian aid is material and logistic assistance to people who need help. It is usually short-term help until the long-term help by the government and other institutions replaces it. Among the people in need are the homeless, refugees, and v ...

. All assistance is provided solely on the basis of need, and benefits families, refugees and

displaced person Forced displacement (also forced migration) is an involuntary or coerced movement of a person or people away from their home or home region. The UNHCR defines 'forced displacement' as follows: displaced "as a result of persecution, conflict, g ...

s, the elderly, school children, orphans, and people with disabilities. Through its US headquarters and field offices around the world ( Banja Luka, Bosnia-Herzegovina; Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Tbilisi, Georgia;

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

West Bank The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

/ Gaza;

Amman, Jordan Amman (; ar, عَمَّان, ' ; Ammonite: 𐤓𐤁𐤕 𐤏𐤌𐤍 ''Rabat ʻAmān'') is the capital and largest city of Jordan, and the country's economic, political, and cultural center. With a population of 4,061,150 as of 2021, Amman is ...

;

Beirut, Lebanon Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint of ...

;

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origin ...

, Minnesota; Belgrade,

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia ( Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hu ...

) IOCC assists people living in some of the most volatile places in the world, including Gaza, Kosovo, and in

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

, where IOCC has provided relief to more than 3.3 million displaced and exiled people suffering through a catastrophic civil war. IOCC is one of few agencies still working inside Syria and continues to support one of the largest humanitarian networks on the ground in the country. IOCC carries a rating of four stars from

Charity Navigator Charity Navigator is a charity assessment organization that evaluates hundreds of thousands of charitable organizations based in the United States, operating as a free 501(c)(3) organization. It provides insights into a nonprofit’s financial ...

, the highest rating the organization awards. IOCC is a member of InterAction, the largest alliance of U.S.–based secular and faith-based organizations working to improve the lives of the world's poorest and most vulnerable populations.

External links

IOCC website

on Charity Navigator * http://assemblyofbishops.org/ * IOCC Profile page http://actalliance.org/about/members/international-orthodox-christian-charities-iocc/

References

Charities based in Maryland Religious charities based in the United States Eastern Orthodox organizations established in the 20th century Organizations established in 1992 Eastern Orthodoxy in Maryland {{US-philanthropy-org-stub

See also

External links

References