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On The Record

Baltimore-based CRS keeps providing relief; makes tough decisions with reduced funding

By Sheilah Kast,
Melissa Gerr
Published July 16, 2025 at 10:31 AM EDT
Baltimore-based Catholic Relief Services president and CEO Sean Callahan visits Syrian families in rural Aleppo to witness the devastation to homes and needs for repair. Photos: Nihad Al-Hassan for CRS
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Baltimore-based Catholic Relief Services president and CEO Sean Callahan visits Syrian families in rural Aleppo to witness the devastation to homes and needs for repair. Photos: Nihad Al-Hassan for CRS
Nihad Al-Hassan
Baltimore-based Catholic Relief Services president and CEO Sean Callahan visits Syrian families in rural Aleppo to witness the devastation to homes and needs for repair. Photos: Nihad Al-Hassan for CRS
2 of 4  — IMG_7320.JPG
Baltimore-based Catholic Relief Services president and CEO Sean Callahan visits Syrian families in rural Aleppo to witness the devastation to homes and needs for repair. Photos: Nihad Al-Hassan for CRS
Nihad Al-Hassan
Baltimore-based Catholic Relief Services president and CEO Sean Callahan visits Syrian families in rural Aleppo to witness the devastation to homes and needs for repair. Photos: Nihad Al-Hassan for CRS
3 of 4  — IMG_7295.JPG
Baltimore-based Catholic Relief Services president and CEO Sean Callahan visits Syrian families in rural Aleppo to witness the devastation to homes and needs for repair. Photos: Nihad Al-Hassan for CRS
Nihad Al-Hassan
Baltimore-based Catholic Relief Services president and CEO Sean Callahan visits Syrian families in rural Aleppo to witness the devastation to homes and needs for repair. Photos: Nihad Al-Hassan for CRS
4 of 4  — SYR2025113225.JPG
Baltimore-based Catholic Relief Services president and CEO Sean Callahan visits Syrian families in rural Aleppo to witness the devastation to homes and needs for repair. Photos: Nihad Al-Hassan for CRS
Nihad Al-Hassan

The shredding of USAID, the U.S. Agency for International Development, wiped out a big part of the budget of Catholic Relief Services, based in Baltimore. CRS was created by U.S. Catholic bishops in 1943 to help those displaced by World War II. It serves more than 200 million people in 122 countries.

What part of its work continues? What effects is it seeing from the aid cuts? We talk with Sean Callahan, president and CEO of Catholic Relief Services.

Links: Study: 14 million lives could be lost due to Trump aid cuts, House Funding Bill Backs Trump’s USAID Closure, Cuts Foreign Aid, This American Life, 'Some Things We Don't Do Anymore'.

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On The Record WYPR ProgramsOn the RecordCatholic Relief Services
Sheilah Kast
Sheilah Kast is the host of On The Record, Monday-Friday, 9:30-10:00 am.
See stories by Sheilah Kast
Melissa Gerr
Melissa Gerr is a Senior Producer for On the Record. She started in public media at Twin Cities Public Television in St. Paul, Minn., where she is from, and then worked as a field producer for Oregon Public Broadcasting in Portland. She made the jump to audio-lover in Baltimore as a digital media editor at Mid-Atlantic Media and Laureate Education, Inc. and as a field producer for "Out of the Blocks." Her beat is typically the off-beat with an emphasis on science, culture and things that make you say, 'Wait, what?'
See stories by Melissa Gerr