The message we want to share as we celebrate the 38th anniversary of the Ethiopian Community Association of Chicago (ECAC) this year is celebration and growth.

In terms of Board governance and development, seven new members have joined since 2021. This expansion has allowed for a restructuring of its governance and organizational leadership. Over the last year, procedures have improved, especially in finance. A new finance committee was formed to continue the growth of ECAC.

During this past year, our organization has tripled in size to meet the needs of its constituencies. Around this time last year, ECAC had a team of 10 and resettled less than 50 refugees to Chicago. Now, ECAC has a group of 30 staff who have successfully resettled 353 Afghan humanitarian parolees to the city of Chicago and 158 refugees from all over the world, including countries such as Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Syria, Iraq, and Colombia.

When we first heard the need for support of the Afghan crisis and the need for support, we quickly worked to hire new staff with a drive to help those in need and the ability to adapt rapidly to new challenges. The Afghan Placement and Assistance Program brought a new set of challenges to the organization.

A significant hurdle to the successful integration of the Afghan population was housing. ECAC committed to rapidly resettling over 300 Afghans when available housing was scarce. Newly arrived Afghans were resettled at rapid speed. Thanks to the efforts of ECAC staff, the partnerships ECAC forged, and funding from the federal Housing on Demand program, we overcame this challenge. Because of these efforts, all Afghans and refugees resettled by ECAC now have a place to call home in Chicago.

New and expanded funding sources have been granted to the organization in the past year, allowing ECAC to provide even more outstanding support to our clients. In 2021, ECAC received around 1 million in grants, and in 2022, ECAC received almost 4 million in grant funding.

Through the Ethiopian Community Development Council (ECDC), one of the nine national resettlement agencies funded by the U.S. Government, we were granted funding to support our refugee and humanitarian parolee arrivals. ECAC was awarded the Additional Assistance Fund for rent and utility assistance. Other kinds of funding were awarded to assist Afghan parolees with medical costs not covered by insurance and immigration fees. In addition, ECAC has been awarded additional funds to help our clients through the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS), Illinois Welcoming Center (IWC), ECDC, the Walder Foundation, and the Polk Bros Foundation.

In 2021, ECAC was highly dedicated to developing a brand-new Ethiopian Cultural Museum of Chicago. We had the vision to transform the space into an attractive museum to educate community members, young Ethiopian immigrants, and other interested parties about Ethiopian history and culture. With the support of Leopardo Companies, Inc, the cultural museum of ECAC is close to its goal of completion and becoming an attractive Ethiopian Cultural Museum of Chicago.

With the new fiscal year approaching, we recognized a need for both staff and the board to engage in discussions about the current state of ECAC and a way for the future. At the staff training event and the board retreat, cross-training occurred to strengthen existing programs and communication. This was especially necessary as ECAC has grown so much that our location has expanded to include two branch locations. The staff training event and the board retreat allowed everyone to establish ECAC’s vision for the future, ensuring the organization’s continued growth.

Our goals for this year include successfully implementing the expanded Illinois Welcoming Center program and new UHP program to serve the newly arrived Ukrainian population, increasing our capacity to provide immigration and legal related support to the Ethiopian community and similarly situated groups, strengthening existing programs, and expanding by implementing new programs to serve our constituencies better. ECAC plans to develop new benefit programs for Ethiopian youth, including annual scholarship awards for higher education. We hope to continue the momentum of 2022 into 2023 to remain a thriving organization.

ECAC will continue to support the needs of any immigrant or refugee who walks through our doors in need of assistance.

With the support of all our community members, funders, individual donors, partners, and supporting organizations, ECAC aims to ensure greater sustainability and its enduring mission of delivering improved, humane, and vital services for all our constituencies. We thank you all!