The Fundação Leão XIII (Leo XIII Foundation)was perhaps the largest and most influential care institution of its kind in the period, providing assistance to 33 favelas between 1947 and 1962. It intervened in areas such as education, food, health, recreations and legal support; for example, between 1947 and 1956 it provided medical treatment to 1.5 million people, and distributed 4.7 million milk bottles.

These came at a time when the wider public and government viewed favelas as an unhygienic 'epidemic' which needed to be eradicated, and there was a marked absence of concerted efforts to improve circumstances from within.

The Cruzada São Sebastião (San Sebastian Crusade)was founded by Dom Helder Camara, Archbishop of Rio de Janeiro, as part of a concerted effort by the Catholic Church to address issues of social justice.