What We Do

The Ethiopian Community Development Council serves the African immigrant and refugee community in the United States through a wide spectrum of programs that are conducted locally and nationally.

ECDC's local programs assist newcomers to the United States improve the quality of their lives and become productive, responsible individuals who give back to their immediate community. On a national level, ECDC is a voluntary agency, resettling refugees from around the world through a network of community-based affiliates.

ECDC currently has two programs in Ethiopia are aimed at educational development and cultural preservation.

Follow the links to learn about ECDC's programs and how we help newcomers across the United States from all over the world.

RESETTLE REFUGEES
This program division manages the resettlement and placement of refugees from Africa, Eastern Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, the Near East, and Southeast Asia through a network of independent community-based organizations around the country. ECDC's participation in the Matching Grant program, a public/private partnership, provides financial incentives to refugees to become self-sufficient during their first 120 days in the United States.

ASSIST NEWCOMERS
Each of ECDC's branch offices offers a variety of educational, social, and support services to help newcomers acculturate and become self-sufficient in their respective locations around the country.

PROMOTE HEALTH EDUCATION
ECDC's proactive health services program combines health promotion and health education with healthcare services, focusing on community outreach, cross-cultural training, and disease prevention and control

HELP MICROBUSINESS ENTREPRENEURS
The ECDC Enterprise Development Group (ECDC EDG) provides business loans, management assistance, and training to entrepreneurs in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, focusing on minority and women-owned businesses. The ECDC EDG also serves as the Small Business Administration's Intermediary Lender for Northern Virginia.

CONDUCT PUBLIC EDUCATION OUTREACH
ECDC's public education program encompasses not only expanding public understanding of and responsiveness to African refugee and African newcomer concerns but also assisting existing and emerging African community-based organizations (CBOs). ECDC engages in advocacy and public education activities by addressing and speaking out on policy initiatives affecting the community; conducting community outreach activities; and promoting participation by members of the African community in public policy issues at the local, state, and national levels. ECDC's African Resource Network (ARN) works to help strengthen their capacity and leadership to respond more effectively to their respective community needs.

FACILITATE CULTURAL UNDERSTANDING
Promoting understanding between and among African newcomers and members of the mainstream community is an integral part of ECDC's programs. Communication facilitates the acculturation process, and interaction introduces newcomers to the diversity that is American culture and Americans to the richness of African cultures.

Our Bridges for Cross-Cultural Understanding program focuses on enhanced orientation for newcomers, publishes a bimonthly newsletter, broadcasts a weekly radio program, and hosts various events throughout the year that bring newcomers and their mainstream neighbors together.

EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
This program collects, ships, and distributes donated books and educational materials to institutions of higher learning in Ethiopia.

PRESERVE CULTURAL HERITAGE
ECDC established the Axumite Heritage Foundation to promote and preserve the culture and history of Northern Ethiopia. The Foundation's first project was to restore the 19th century Governor's Palace, known as the 'Inda Nebri'd, in Axum, Ethiopia. In 2001, the Foundation opened the renovated building as Axum's public library.