The Mercy Project was founded in 2008 by a group of Canadian volunteers who met while participating in the Concordia Volunteer Abroad Program (CVAP) in Gulu, Northern Uganda. While in Uganda, the volunteers worked at a daycare where the children had limited access to healthcare. Profoundly affected by the relationships created with local community members, the volunteers decided to found a charity upon their return to Montreal.

The Mercy Project (TMP) was created in memory of a four-year-old girl named Mercy who contracted Malaria during their time in Gulu, an illness that costs less than $10 to treat, and needlessly died due to a lack of access to this medication.

The Mercy Project began with one community partner, the Sports Outreach Ministry Gulu, and expanded to a second project in 2009 with the St. Jude Children’s Home. The Mercy Project is part of Concordia Volunteers at Home, a division of CVAP that aims to strengthen and foster the commitment of Concordia University students, CVAP volunteers, and alumni to engage in social justice and anti-poverty work. The Mercy Project has been a registered charity (#802173401RR0001) since 2012.