Celebrating 25 Years of Impact
This year, East LA Community Corporation turns 25. Since 1995, ELACC has been dedicated to serving the residents of Los Angeles’ Eastside. ELACC is a fierce advocate for economic and social justice in Boyle Heights and East Los Angeles by building grassroots leadership, developing affordable housing and neighborhood assets, and providing access to economic development opportunities for low and moderate-income families. We’re so proud to share more about our history, our work, and our plans for the next 25 years. Together, we can continue making the Eastside a place where every family thrives.
Words from our founders
Reflections on ELACC’s 25th Anniversary
By Maria Cabildo and Joaquin Bernal
Has it been 25 years? Wow, it feels like last week that we signed our incorporation documents and prepared our first funding application. When I left ELACC in 2015, after serving as its leader for nearly sixteen years, I often referred to the organization as something akin to my first-born child. I knew it needed to go on without me. Today, I am as proud of ELACC as I am of my own children. These last five years, I have watched it from a distance and at times felt deep pangs of sadness and moments of joy as it went through the kinds of growing pains that are so normal for organizations. Read more.
Celebrating
25 years
By Manuel Bernal and Joaquin Bernal
Our 25th anniversary is an important milestone. The reality is that not many organizations are able to survive five years, and the fact that an organization like ours that has survived for twenty-five years is something to be proud of and celebrated. It’s certainly well-deserved, as the work accomplished over the past twenty-five years is tremendous and has changed the community in so many ways. I’d like to give my thanks to the many ELACC staff, both past and present, who have made such a huge imprint and have, overall, made the community a much better place. Read more.
Become a Friend of ELACC
Your gift to ELACC will ensure we continue to serve and provide homes for low and moderate-income families on the Eastside. Gifts of all sizes make a difference. Donate today!
News
We introduced our Community Wealth Department in 2001 to help create pathways to homeownership for low-income families on the Eastside. ELACC created foreclosure prevention classes and resident capacity building as a strategy to help families preserve the assets and wealth they worked hard to build. Nearly two decades later, our slate of financial and homeownership education and counseling programming still play an integral role in how we promote financial empowerment in our community. Read more about how we’re empowering our community.
Earlier this year, amidst a global pandemic and civil unrest, the organization I co-founded quietly turned 25 years old. Since 1995, East LA Community Corporation has been dedicated to serving the residents of Los Angeles’ Eastside. It doesn’t feel like too long ago that we – an urban planner, attorney, community organizer, and real estate developer – decided it was up to us to form an organization that would advocate for economic and social justice in Boyle Heights and East Los Angeles. Click here our CEO and our full newsletter.
