Sisters of Mercy have been present in Romania since 1990 when a sister from the Institute of Sisters of Mercy of the Americas relocated to Romania and worked in an orphanage for four years. She established a Romanian- American Association for the Promotion of Health, Education and Human Services to help at-risk families keep their children. This association provides a variety of programmes to address poverty and presently less than 2% of the children served through this association end up in orphanages. This sister returned to the United States for health reasons.

In 1992 a member of the Sisters of Mercy of the Union of Great Britain began ministering in Romania and established connections with the civic and religious community in Dundee, Scotland, who support the ministry with material and spiritual resources. She ministers to abandoned or ill children and elderly persons and many of her projects are financed through the Lawside Romania Fund, a charitable organization in the UK. Much great work is done for poor or destitute families with the aid of this fund.

In October 2000 a member of the Institute of Our Lady of Mercy, Great Britain, moved to Bucharest. She began working with children who were HIV+ to assist them with English and to provide social outings for them. With the help of a Daughter of Charity colleague she established several Saint Vincent DePaul Conferences to provide outreach to the economically poor. These conferences are now self-sufficient and thriving.