On the evening of January 12, 2010, a violent 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck just outside of the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince. More than 220,000 people lost their lives, countless others were injured, and 1.5 million were instantly homeless. In only 35 seconds, Haiti was changed forever.

Our cofounders, Sean Penn and Ann Lee, met in a displacement camp while responding to this emergency. Together, they founded CORE – Community Organized Relief Effort (originally known as the relief organization J/P HRO). We started as a scrappy team of wild idealists, determined to do what we could to ease the suffering and destruction all around us. With hard work and a refusal to take no for an answer, we managed to achieve in five years what experts said would take decades to accomplish. We cleared literal tons of rubble, ended up running the largest camp of displaced people in Haiti, and helped the community rebuild. This ethos of simply rolling up our sleeves and getting to work – no matter how great the challenge – is what guides CORE to this day.

Since that first response, CORE has grown into a global team that has served 12.8 million people … and counting. We’ve been on the frontlines of emergencies around the world, from the violent conflicts in Ukraine and Sudan, to the COVID-19 and Opioid crises, and the hurricane-battered U.S. South. We focus on helping the most vulnerable people after a disaster, providing life-changing support in their darkest moments. But CORE doesn’t simply show up, pass out supplies, and then leave. We’re in it for the long haul, empowering communities with vital resources and training so they can be self-sufficient when the next disaster strikes.