East Boston Ecumenical Community Council
East Boston Ecumenical Community Council (EBECC) is a neighborhood-based organization that promotes the advancement of immigrants of all ages through education, services, advocacy, community organizing, and leadership development. Members of the EBECC build support networks and acquire information and skills to achieve their own goals , and engage in collective action to improve the quality of life in East Boston and to advance immigrant rights. Accordingly, EBECC adjusts its programs to reflect the changing demographics of the immigrant population and community needs in East Boston.
East Boston Ecumenical Community Council (EBECC) has had extensive experience working with immigrant and underserved communities. EBECC was founded in 1978 when a group of concerned religious leaders responding to racial antagonism and the resulting violence towards people of color in East Boston, first in the context of efforts to desegregate public schools and public housing developments, and later in the context of efforts to resettle Cambodian and Vietnamese refugees. Today, EBECC is a neighborhood-based organization that promotes the advancement of immigrants of all ages, particularly Latinos, through education, youth services, advocacy, community organizing, and leadership development. In 2011, EBECC provided services to 5,252 clients, the vast majority of whom were immigrants from Central and South America living in East Boston. An estimated 3,200 additional individuals received information and referral services around immigration issues, and civic engagement issues.
Nuestra Voz Cuenta!/NVC (Our Voice Also Counts!)
NVC is our civic engagement process that makes voting more accessible to Spanish-speakers, and to facilitate the growth of Latinos’ political power by helping them understand the link between voting and impacting issues of importance to them. In coordination with our immigration program and adult ESL, Aspire Youth Center, staff and volunteers gave individuals crucial information and knowledge about the electoral process. EBECC has established strong partnership with MassVote, NOAH, MIRA, and other partners committed to the civic engagement process in English and Spanish, such as how to register and where and when to cast their ballot, that helped many people to vote for the first time ever.
