President's Message

FrPat 2019 1 1On behalf of those we serve around the world, I thank you for your interest in the work being supported by Chalice. Our simple goal is to bring Christ's loving presence to those suffering the sorrowful stress of poverty.

This core mission began when one person, responding to Christ's call and the urging of the Holy Spirit, decided to help one other person through sponsorship. It continues today because others joined in that mission.

With thanksgiving, I have seen Christ coming to many children, parents and elderly. Through the sponsorship of a child, or a gift from our catalogue, or the support of a community project, Christ came to a hungry boy as he was fed, to a sick girl or mother when given medication, to a classroom filled with children joyous at the opportunity to go to school rather than be forced into work.

I have seen Christ come to a whole community when a school was built, or a clinic supplied, or when several small houses replaced tarpaulin shacks. I have seen Christ come in each of these circumstances because one more person acted on a similar call and urging of God's Spirit.
Today, I hope that person is you.

If so, I pray that through your action, you too will see Christ coming to those in need of His loving kindness.

In Christ,
Fr. Patrick Cosgrove, President



Chalice Board of Directors


J. Ron Robichaud
, Chairperson
Faculty, Truro, NS

Peter Browne, Treasurer
Accountant, Halifax, NS

+ Martin Currie, Director
Archbishop Emeritus, Dartmouth, NS

Brian Church, Director
Lawyer, Halifax, NS

John Furneaux, Director
Professional Engineer, Waverley, NS

Lorraine Lafferty, Vice Chairperson
Lawyer, Halifax,NS

Malcolm Pinto, Director
Professional Engineer, Halifax, NS

Talita Thaís Valadares, Secretary
Financial Advisor, Lawyer, Halifax, NS


Donald A. Wishart, Director
Portfolio Manager, Halifax, NS

Who We Are 

Purpose statement
Christ to the Poor and the Poor to Christ

Vision Statement
A world where all children and families live in communities of life and love

Mission Statement
To reveal God's love in action by serving the poor, with the Global Catholic Community

Values
Founded in Christ and dedicated to the love of Mary, Mother of the Church, we believe that every person has a basic and equal right to dignity. We express this in our core values:

  • Stewardship
  • Faithfulness
  • Integrity
  • Commitment
  • Compassion
  • Respect
  • Diversity

May 24, 2021 - Chalice is constituted as a Private Association of the Faithful by Archbishop Brian Dunn of the Diocese of Halifax-Yarmouth. Read the official decree.

Chalice is a Catholic international aid charity focused on child, family, and community development. We work closely with lay people, religious missionaries, and local communities to provide care for the many children and families caught in the dehumanizing grip of poverty. 

Chalice outdoor classroom in Ghana

Since its inception, Chalice has been restoring hope and dignity to people in developing countries through our sponsorship program. Children and elders are selected for sponsorship based on need and family circumstances, regardless of race, age, ability, gender, or religion.

Each of our 51 sponsor sites is under local direction. By working closely with those who live and experience the difficulties of poverty, we gain knowledge and insight on how to best respond to challenges. We assist our religious and lay partner organizations in caring for impoverished children, the homeless, sick, infirmed, and aged by providing health, education, shelter, water, and nutritional benefits. We assist in the construction, repair or expansion of schools, clinics, hospitals, orphanages, homes and other constructions that benefit the financially poor.

Chalice commits 90.2 percent of its spending in support of programs.

Our Programs:

  • Sponsorship of children and elderly
  • Nutrition Program
  • Capital Projects and Human Development Programs
  • Disaster and Critical Needs Response
Our Impact
Chalice_Sponsorship_Demographic_BreakdownChalice sponsorship has many supporting programs, such as nutrition, infrastructure, health, water, and agriculture. The unified goal of all these programs is educated children, in more self-sustaining families, living in caring and connected communities. While every site is highly distinctive in both its reality of poverty and their approaches to it, there are goals shared by all sites.

Chalice constantly monitors and evaluates the efficacy of all our programs with the following criteria:
  • Sponsored children are more educated, more prepared for their future, and able to deal with risks
  • Families are more prepared, able to take care of themselves, and able to cope with emergencies
  • Communities have more assets, infrastructure, and connections to care for one another, particularly those in need.
Local staff collect this information in both numerical and descriptive forms. With this data, Canadian and international staff can more concretely understand how the individuals are benefitting from our programs, spot successful trends or troubleshoot more effectively. It allows for responsive change and re-direction from the local level to the global. The information also lets us share the story of our work with supporters with much greater detail and precision.

Read Our Detailed Output Indicator Information
Our Sponsorship Model: Family Funding for our core program

Barakacirclegroup smAs we continue to grow and improve our delivery of sponsorship benefits, we’ve learned that families are empowered when they can make financial decisions on how to best provide for their children. Under our old model, the decision-making process for how sponsorship funds were spent was decided upon by our sponsor site staff.

Each family is unique, and so are their needs. We’ve recently launched our Family Funding model to better suit each family’s individual requirements. Guardians of sponsored children now receive financial training to budget for expenses. It’s a requirement that educational fees must be top priority. Families now have their own bank account where sponsorship funds and “special money” donations from sponsors are deposited. Each month, the guardian meets with their Chalice Family Circle (small community group,) comprised of other guardians and a Chalice field worker. Each member discloses their budget for the upcoming month and reports back to the group on their expenditures for the previous month.

Family Circles have many benefits. Since peer members hold each other to a high standard, there’s an increased level of accountability. The members get to know each other on a personal level, building a sense of friendship and community. An experienced and engaged circle group member can also provide knowledge, skills and confidence to new families so that they can lift themselves out of extreme poverty. We currently have over 2,400 family circle groups across our 53 sponsor sites. Read about how one family circle group in Samar, Philippines has had tremendous success.

Many of our guardians are day labourers. Their income varies greatly based on labour demand, and is affected by seasons, health, weather, crop production, etc. In your child’s “thank you” letter, they may refer to “saving” their special money. Families, now skilled with financial training, understand that they can put money aside for emergency needs or for an upcoming expense. This is most likely to occur if they’ve had a period of continued employment.

Learning and Evaluation pilot project brings stories of change and resilience

In 2018, Chalice staff in Canada launched a six-month pilot to test a data collection tool designed to help site staff workers track the progress of the sponsored children and their families. The goal of the exercise was to create a more complete picture of how sponsorship creates tangible and intangible improvements to the families' health, happiness, and hope for the future.
Read More

Annual Report & Financials

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