About
Sudan Relief Fund (SRF) is a U.S. based 501(c)(3) nonprofit that serves and strengthens the people of Sudan and South Sudan by providing food, water, clothing, and medical aid; and by developing institutions of civil society to promote peace and stability for Sudan and South Sudan’s future generations.
SRF envisions a peaceful and prosperous Sudan and South Sudan with a strong infrastructure and the ability to meet the most basic human needs of its citizens. Currently, 4 million people are displaced from Sudan and South Sudan. Our mission is to return Sudan and South Sudanese refugees to a country safe from systemic violence with the opportunity to become a stable nation. Our vision is one of a self-sufficient country with thriving schools, hospitals, governing bodies, and programs that empower the Sudan and South Sudanese people to maintain their independence and peace. Ultimately, we work towards developing a country able to achieve peace, prosperity, and stability in both the short and the long term.
For over two decades, Sudan Relief Fund has united a community of philanthropic partners like you to give generously and thereby make a transformational difference in thousands of lives in Sudan, South Sudan, and the surrounding region.
President’s Message
“I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord. “Plans to give you hope and a future.”
– Jeremiah 29:11
Turning despair to hope is a hallmark of our work. In 2025, your partnership mattered more than ever. You brought food to the hungry, clean water to the
needy, shelter to the orphan and refugee, medicine to the sick, and hope to the downcast.
Hope is a powerful healer. But it’s more than emotion. It stems from tangible results that affected real change. With Sudan’s grueling civil war nearing its fourth year, we operate in some of the toughest humanitarian conditions in our world today. But none of it has stopped our work. Even in the midst we’re making an incredible difference – saving untold lives and rewriting norms to change the way healthcare looks in Nuba and South Sudan.
Another hallmark of our work is our ability to respond rapidly in emergencies and adapt as conditions change. Sudan Relief Fund’s extensive on-the-ground network, deep local relationships, and nearly three decades in the region positioned us to deliver aid where others simply could not.
Earlier this year, Dr. Tom Catena unexpectedly lost a source for essential medicines, and Sudan Relief Fund rallied quickly to deliver them into the remote Nuba Mountains. In another instance, we rushed food to starving refugees in Fangak trapped by floods and violence who others could not reach. We call this the “Sudan Relief Fund Difference,” a characteristic that sets our organization apart.
We’re grateful to share examples of the life changing work you made possible in the pages of this Annual Report. Behind every picture and summary are lives that were impacted. And behind each story are portraits of our donors who made it happen.
Yours in Faith,
Neil Corkery
Healthcare and Medicine
“I was sick and you took care of me.” – Matthew 25:36
Your partnership during 2025 made healthcare ministries possible across Nuba and South Sudan, where people have long been oppressed by lack of accessible medical care. It’s even more urgent due to war in Sudan. Your support has made us the leading healthcare provider in Nuba and the primary supporter of the only major hospital in western Sudan.
Doro Health Clinic
In the Upper Nile State near the Sudan border is a refugee camp in the village of Doro. In the past year this camp has grown so crowded with refugees from Sudan’s civil war that it’s now one of the largest in South Sudan with more than 100,000 people. With your partnership we provided critical aid to Doro through a much needed pharmacy expansion, and emergency food support during the famine that is affecting Sudan and much of South Sudan.
Medicine to Heal Leprosy
There is no reason people should suffer from the curable disease of leprosy today. The plight faced by many sufferers is the lack of access to medical care. Through your compassion, we support two leper colonies – communities in Agok and Malo – providing not only medicine but also food relief. Leprosy victims are often unable to work or buy food as a result of being shunned from society, and having debilitating permanent injuries. It’s humbling to see these communities find joy and gratitude despite their circumstances, and an inspiring example of the hope you’re bringing to shattered lives.
Hope at St. Peter’s Clinic in Ave Maria
You continued to support the medical clinic in Ave Maria Parish, a critical source of healthcare for refugees and displaced families in the Western Equatoria jungle. It’s the only medical care in an area that’s certifiably one of the most remote locations on earth. The presence of this clinic in Ave Maria cannot be underestimated. Your funding also supports dental treatment – an unheard of service in this part of the world.
Pope Francis Center for Peace and Wellness
The Pope Francis Center for Peace and Wellness is transforming lives young and old. Your funding provides medicine, nutrition, and schooling for children born with HIV, enabling them to thrive and live meaningful lives where previously they would have been abandoned and left to die.
Riak was a young crippled woman with a newborn when she became a widow. Her outlook was bleak until she was connected with the Pope Francis Center. It offers intervention for single mothers and widows, providing vocational training and small business loans to empower women like Riak to support her children. The Center offers a food program for women until they become self-sufficient, and helps children stay in school. Your support lifts families from dependency and helps break the cycle of poverty.
New Health Clinic Brought to Rimenze
Construction began in 2025 on a new health clinic in Rimenze, slated for completion the third quarter of 2026. The clinic will serve a vast population including refugees and internally displaced people, bringing healthcare to an area that has been plagued by violence, natural disaster, and the pressure of refugees from Sudan’s civil war.
Mother of Mercy Hospital – Nuba
Dr. Tom Catena’s leadership and your support sustained a heightened demand for medical care at Mother of Mercy Hospital this year, as the facility treated three times the patient load. The Nuba Mountain region is now the frontline of Sudan’s civil war. Dealing with war casualties and a drastic increase in internally displaced, the hospital now serves an estimated 4 million people. Continued famine and a cholera outbreak also contributed to the heavy increase in patients. Read more about how your contributions are making an incredible difference despite these challenges in our story on page 11.
St. Theresa Mission Hospital Nzara
Exciting new developments are expanding healthcare and reaching more people during 2025 at St. Theresa Mission Hospital Nzara thanks to your partnership. Read the full report in our spotlight story on page 12.
Clean Water and Humanitarian Aid
“I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground.” – Isaiah 44:3
More Clean Water Than Ever Before—50 Wells in 2025
This year, you funded over 50 wells across Nuba and South Sudan, our highest total ever, bringing clean water to thousands of people.
The significance of clean water cannot be underestimated. Lack of it in Sudan’s decimated infrastructure and crowded refugee camps contributed to a deadly cholera outbreak in 2025. The need has never been more timely.
Consider its far-reaching benefits. Healthy children can go to school. Mothers have healthier babies. Families wash and cook in safe water. Healthy fathers can provide for families. Wells sustain communities through annual dry seasons. Girls go to school instead of hauling water for hours each day. These communities celebrated and rejoiced over their new wells because they know what it means to have clean water – it changes their lives.
Plumpy’Nut Saves Untold Lives in Famine
Famine worsened by Sudan’s civil war continued to ravage the battered nation this year, putting millions at risk of starvation – its effects extending into parts of South Sudan. But your rapid response enabled us to rush shipments of emergency food to families on the front lines of the Sudan war and famine-stricken parts of South Sudan. With treatment from Plumpy’Nut nutrition packets, in just a few weeks a child on the verge of starvation can be almost fully recovered.
Dr. Tom Catena, Director of Mother of Mercy hospital, described conditions in the Nuba Mountains. The children’s ward typically sees up to 15 children in a day. This year “we had 75 to 80 children – terribly malnourished – coming in every day. People every day were asking, ‘Can you give me some food? I’ll do anything.’ This went on for months. It was a terrible time.”
Our team had the privilege of witnessing food deliveries. Seeing the eyes of mothers as they received packets to feed their children. Watching the measuring tape around toddlers’ arms move from the dangerous red zone into the safety of green. Your support is not only saving lives at Mother of Mercy Hospital, but at displacement camps all across Nuba.
With your partnership, Sudan Relief Fund has become a leading force in health care and nutrition throughout the region, and an influential voice initiating high level conversations that are bringing change.
A Place to Call Home
“I will not leave you orphans.” – John 14:18
There are few things more heartrending than an orphaned child, and few missions more reflective of God’s heart than taking care of lost and vulnerable children. Because of your compassionate support, Sudan Relief Fund completed construction this year on a brand new facility for a growing population of 250 orphans.
From its humble beginnings as one dedicated woman took it upon herself to look after abandoned children, matriarch Sister Bianca Bii has stood with orphans through peril and progress, never turning away a child in need.
When the previous home for the orphanage became an unstable area and no longer safe, they were evacuated to Nzara, where their new home would soon be built. Now the facility is complete. There are boys’ and girls’ dormitories. A new kitchen and multipurpose hall for meals and worship. A security wall and guard tower watch over the children’s safety.
At times Sister Bianca was the sole caregiver for the orphans. Today she works with other Blue Sister nuns at the new facility who help care for its 250 children. The Blue Sisters told us on a recent visit they consider our donors to be “extended family” because of all they’ve done for the children of St. Bakhita Orphanage.
The expansion couldn’t come at a timelier moment. Conflict and migration of refugees has caused the population to more than double in just months. Because of you, children in peril have a safe home where they can attend school and receive medical care from nearby St. Theresa Mission Hospital Nzara.
Some children never remember having any other home but St. Bakhita. Grace came when she was three after both of her parents died from illness. Moses came when he was six after his village and family were lost in violent conflict. Twin babies whose mother died in childbirth were recently welcomed into the home. Refuge here completely changes children’s lives. They have food, clean water, clothing, shelter, education, and health care. They have a family. And they have hope for the future.
Helping the Helpless – Sisters of Charity Rescue Orphaned Babies
In Rumbek, orphaned babies would have nowhere to go if not for the Pan Ngath Orphanage, run by the Missionary Sisters of Charity. Sadly many unwanted infants, or babies whose mothers died in childbirth, are abandoned and left to die in this part of the world. But the Sisters of Charity fight for each life that comes into their care.
South Sudan suffers one of the highest mortality rates for mother and baby in the world. Many mothers still labor on dirt floors in villages with no medical supervision. Any complication can be deadly.
On a given day outside the orphanage, you see women and girls waiting, holding infants of young women who died in childbirth. There are so many newborns here, when you walk around the facility you often see babies as young as one-and two-weeks old. No other organization in the entire area will accept infants. But the Sisters of Charity take even the tiniest, most malnourished babies and care for each little life with dignity.
Your compassionate support makes this care possible. Through your partnership, we are supplying medicines and continuing to improve the grounds and facilities. Renovations to expand the main building are nearly completed, so the Sisters will be positioned to help more babies in need.
When Flood Waters Raged – Reaching Starving Families in Fangak
“Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you fulfill the law of Christ.” – Galatians 6:2
Eleven year-old Yoel was ill when the floods hit and not strong enough to escape. His father, a widower, carried his son for two hours in swirling chest high waters to reach safety. Raging floods swept away homes and submerged farmlands. Families were trapped on scattered mounds of dry ground with no shelter, no food, and no resources.
Making their plight even more dire were the aerial bombings that followed, destroying infrastructure. Most humanitarian help couldn’t reach the scattered victims due to submerged roads. Desperate families ate plants from the stagnant waters to survive.
With your support, Sudan Relief Fund mobilized swiftly to reach marooned families by boat. Our donor community stepped in to save families who would otherwise have soon succumbed to starvation. Like two year-old Jamila who was clinging to life. Her eyes nearly swollen shut from acute malnutrition, she was lethargic and unresponsive. Just a week after receiving care she looked dramatically different – a bright eyed baby girl. Our boats delivered aid, but your hand reached across the world to save lives.
Education and Civil Society
Breaking the Cycle of Poverty through Education
Your partnership allowed expansions at the Brothers of Christian Instruction School in Rimenze, including a new secondary dormitory, secondary school classrooms, and a multi- purpose hall. With your help, the school is fast becoming the best in Western Equatoria.
Youngsters at Sacred Heart Nursery and Primary School in Juba, are benefiting from new classroom space. Due to heavy influx of Sudanese refugees and internally displaced, the school’s population doubled in just two years, now serving over 1,000 students.
Temporary Classrooms for Refugee Children in Malakal
Your support helped thousands of children in the Malakal refugee camp, who were using a building with no roof for makeshift school instruction. Thanks to your generosity, we funded temporary classrooms so refugee children can attend school under a dry roof as they cope with refugee life.
An Oasis in the Jungle – Vocational Training at Ave Maria
The remote jungle of Western Equatoria is the last place one would expect to find new businesses created – but that’s precisely what’s happening. Originally a refugee camp for the displaced, Ave Maria parish offers vocational training for families who lost their livelihoods when they fled, including carpentry, woodworking, and mechanics. This year two graduates launched successful new businesses in carpentry and woodworking. Your support makes these programs possible and gives new hope to those who have lost everything.
SAVING LIVES IN A WAR ZONE
“I don’t care what’s going on around us – we’re going to keep doing what we’re doing.”– Dr. Tom
Sudan’s civil war continues to shatter the nation, becoming the world’s worst humanitarian crisis as war shifts to the Nuba Mountains. Famine, a widespread cholera outbreak, and encroaching civil war were the realities doctor Tom Catena and his staff woke up to each day in 2025.
Your support meant more than ever as Mother of Mercy Hospital rallied to treat three times more patients and a children’s ward crowded with malnourished famine victims. “There are over a million…displaced people within the Nuba Mountains,” Dr. Tom described. “So we’ve gotten much busier.” The number of displaced continues to grow.
As Sudan’s civil war surpasses three years, famine continued to hit Sudan hard, not sparing the Nuba Mountains where Mother of Mercy remains one of the few hospitals open. Your role was crucial in supplying vital medicines to the hospital as it rose to treating a cholera outbreak and casualties of war. With your support we are also supplying medicine to the outreach clinics across Nuba.
“Without our donors, we stop functioning,” said Dr. Tom. “ We can’t do this on our own. We’re dependent on help from the outside to keep going.”
This year our team had the opportunity to accompany Dr. Tom on a brief visit to the US, where he shared how despite the challenges, his team is prepared to keep saving lives. He gains inspiration from the Nuba people. “When you see their kind of courage… that resilience, you think, well, who am I to complain? Let me keep doing what I’m doing…working hard for these people who are suffering.”
He thanked donors for their prayers and support. “The power of prayer is phenomenal,” he said. “And I really want to encourage people to please pray for us. It’s very powerful.”
Dr. Tom knows the success of Mother of Mercy Hospital is a group effort. Thank you for answering the call to support Dr. Tom and his humanitarian efforts amid a dire civil war. He shared, “I consider all the people that donate to be equal partners in our work….as equal as the other doctors and nurses that work with us. We can’t do anything without them.”
ST. THERESA EXPANDS CARE
St. Theresa Mission Hospital Nzara is a bastion of hope for a population otherwise without health care. Near the southern border of Western Equatoria state, the hospital reaches over half a million people and serves 50,000 patients a year – the only hospital for hundreds of miles.
Fighting one of the worst childbirth mortality rates in the world, St. Theresa’s Safe Motherhood Project continues to excel in saving lives, providing healthy birth environments and maternity care through pregnancy. This care is making the moment a child comes into the world one to celebrate.
Tragically, one in ten children die before age five from treatable illnesses. More than 70 percent of St. Theresa’s patients are under age five. The need for pediatric care is immense.
Thanks to SRF donor support, a brand new children’s ward – the Graham Pediatric Center – is now open to provide child health care. The new center represents significant strides in available medical care in this highly underserved region. Combined with a new NICU and adult ward projects underway, St. Theresa Hospital will be one of the most well equipped medical centers in the entire nation.
Financials
With the generous commitment of our supporters, fiscal year 2025 was a landmark year for Sudan Relief Fund. Your commitment reached more people in need than ever before, at a time when the humanitarian crisis in Sudan and South Sudan continues to intensify. We are pleased to share that 2025 represented the highest year ever in dollars given directly to projects and humanitarian work.
Sudan Relief Fund continues to achieve well above standard benchmarks for financial stewardship, meriting a four-star rating on Charity Navigator, and a Platinum Seal of transparency on Candid – the highest level of recognition and an indicator of commitment to openness, accountability, and demonstration of real impact. Thank you for making the greatest impact in the 28 years we’ve partnered to transform lives and bring hope.
Here are some highlights of achievements you made possible this year:
- Over $3 million in healthcare and medicine
- Nearly $1 million in emergency nutrition during a year of severe famine
- Nearly $750,000 directly toward clean water projects, including 50+ water wells and repairs, bringing safe water to thousands.
- Over $4 million went directly towards lifesaving care provided by local missionaries for health clinics, vocational training, education, orphanages, community services, and much more lifesaving care.
2025 TOTAL IMPACT: $9,065,564*
Sudan Relief Fund operates at a high level of efficiency, with program costs exceeding 85 percent of our yearly expenses—a figure that remains well above humanitarian aid standards. A full breakdown of our 2025 financials will be available on our website when our Form 990 is released later this year. Sudan Relief Fund remains committed to financial transparency and welcomes any questions about our work.
* Projected figure based on internal data
Meet the Team
SRF On The Ground
One of the most crucial aspects of Sudan Relief Fund’s work involves time on the ground visiting projects, meeting partners, and evaluating conditions firsthand. Attentive stewardship is one aspect that sets Sudan Relief Fund apart and enhances our flexibility to pivot quickly when conditions change.
This year we had the special opportunity to bring Dr. Tom Catena of Mother of Mercy Hospital back to the United States for a short visit and personal interview. Here is an overview of some of the projects, people, and places our team visited during 2025.
Neil Corkery
President
Neil Corkery has served as the President of the Board of Directors of Sudan Relief Fund since 2013. Prior to that he served for eight years as Executive Director of SRF. During his long service, Neil has traveled frequently and extensively to South Sudan, building partnerships that enable Sudan Relief Fund to work effectively on the ground, and gaining a deep understanding of the region’s most urgent needs and challenges.
Matt Smith
Senior Vice President
Matt serves as the Senior Vice President for Sudan Relief Fund. A graduate of Baylor University and Princeton Theological Seminary, Matt serves as an advocate for the vision and mission of Sudan Relief Fund and oversees fundraising strategy. He works closely with our team in cultivating partner relationships both domestically and internationally. He is committed to ensuring that life-saving aid reaches vulnerable communities in Sudan and South Sudan efficiently and effectively.
David Dettoni
Executive Vice President
David directs our Programs and Operations, overseeing humanitarian efforts and coordination with partner organizations and government agencies. With extensive experience in public policy, he serves as a policy advocate in Washington, DC and world capitals. He has testified before Congress on Sudan and South Sudan, and advised US lawmakers and policymakers on issues pertaining to national security, humanitarian assistance, counterterrorism, and human rights.
Fred Otieno
Country Representative and Program Coordinator
Formerly Acting Director of Management and Integral Human Development for the Sudan Catholic Bishops’ Conference, Fred joined Sudan Relief Fund in 2021 as Program Coordinator, responsible for identifying different interventions and religious projects and linking them with Sudan Relief Fund. Since then, his work has expanded to oversee projects across South Sudan, identifying needs and implementing directives.
Kate Mellon
Director of Development
Kate has served as Director of Development for more than ten years liaising with donors and managing critical functions of the organization to further its work and illuminate the plight of the South Sudanese. Kate has a BS in Business Management from George Mason University. She has spent considerable time traveling across South Sudan to gain a broad perspective of the projects funded and the scope of Sudan Relief Fund’s work.