Last week the Barr Foundation awarded the East Boston Community Council (EBCC) $100,000 grant for general operations that will support EBCC’s overall mission of advancing Hispanic families and the underserved in the neighborhood.
EBCC’s Executive Director, Frank Ramirez said the COVID-19 pandemic has deeply impacted the immigrants, refugees, and underserved youths the organization serves as well as the Community Council itself. The grant from the Barr Foundation will help bridge the gap between the ability to deliver quality programing in Eastie and the loss of revenue experienced during the pandemic.
“We did recover but EBCC experienced a loss of revenue and client base because the pandemic impacted our operations,” said Ramirez. “As a small organization in the nonprofit sector, we are facing many of the structural inequities, particularly around race/ethnicity and access to resources in Massachusetts, and so we asked for help from the Barr Foundation and they delivered.”
Ramirez said EBCC sincerely appreciates its partnership with the Barr Foundation.
“Through the Barr Foundation’s help, we have been able to continue providing uninterrupted services to our Latino immigrant community during the pandemic,” said Ramirez. “Its decisive and proactive support in empowering communities of color and sustaining our work on behalf of the community members affected by this pandemic is fully appreciated.”
Ramirez said this past year has been challenging and inspiring. EBCC has continued providing regular services throughout the impact of the pandemic. Like many other non-profits in the neighborhood, EBCC also wore many different hats during the height of the pandemic–distributing masks and sanitizing kits, offering facilities and referring clients to testing sites, food distribution programs, and contacting housing and heating help services for families affected by unemployment.
“We are proud to support East Boston Community Council’s work to serve Latino families and young people in East Boston,” said Barr Foundation President Jim Canales. “The COVID-19 pandemic disproportionately impacted Boston’s immigrant communities. As we now navigate a COVID-managed future, the urgency of supporting immigrant communities and immigrant-serving organizations remains.”
EBCC promotes the advancement of Latino immigrants of all ages through education, services, advocacy, community organizing, and leadership development.
Just last year, EBCC assisted close to 5,000 Latino immigrant families and youth in Eastie to learn English, normalize their immigration status, integrate into a new society or reunite with their families, and acquire skills to become leaders.
With the help of the Barr Foundation grant EBCC will continue to: Offer ESOL Classes for 400 adults; Citizen education and help to pass the exam to 200 new citizens; Help normalize their immigration status to 3,500 immigrants including family reunification; Help 200 students to obtain their High School Equivalence Certificate (HiSET); and Help 150 young people to remain or advance in high school and enter colleges and universities of their choice.
“EBCC grounds its values in human welfare with a commitment to treating each person as having inherent worth and dignity,” said Ramirez. “With this grant, EBCC will continue to offer invaluable services and support to Latino immigrants and the whole community of East Boston and surrounding communities.”
EBCC was founded in 1978 when a group of concerned religious leaders responded to racial antagonism and the resulting violence towards people of color. Today, EBECC is a neighborhood-based organization that promotes the advancement of Latino immigrants of all ages through education, services, advocacy, community organizing, and leadership development.
By participating in EBECC programs, individuals build support networks and acquire information and skills to achieve their own goals. By participating in EBECC organizing initiatives, Latino immigrants engage in collective action to improve the quality of life in East Boston and to advance immigrant rights at the local, state, and national levels.
In FY 2008, EBECC will offer seven programs, organized in these departments: Immigration; Adult Education; Youth; and Community Organizing.