WELCOME TO ECCO
ECCO is a non-profit, interfaith, broad based community organization
on Boston’s North Shore that include churches, synagogues, a
family housing project, school parents’ groups, and labor unions.
ECCO’s mission is to develop leadership to build power and collaboration
among families and communities on the North Shore. We are guided by
a firm belief in the democratic principle that all people are created
equal and have the right to make decisions about important issues affecting
their neighborhoods. Founded in 1981, ECCO has organized around a variety
of issues affecting families on the North Shore, including activities
directed at affordable housing, public safety, quality education, childcare,
workforce development, health care and youth activities.
Recent ECCO Activity, 2008
Youth Violence Prevention and Positive Youth Development The Southern Essex ECCO group, in partnership with the College Application Education Project Inc. (CAEP) has worked on getting some funds from the city's Shannon Anti-gang Initiative fund to create a Street Outreach Worker program. This program, unlike other Street outreach worker programs, is created to prevent deliberatly "at risk" youth from joining and being recruited by North Shore gangs. ECCO played a crutial role in the restoration by the state legislature of the Shannon funding for the 2008 fiscal year.
Our Street Outreach Worker, Antonio Guitierezz of Lynn, works to create relationships with youth, and provide them with alternatives to a potentially destructive lifestyle as part of our violence prevention initiative.
The Cape Ann ECCO group has also been working on creating Youth Violence Prevention programs. In partnership with Sustainable Cape Ann (SCA) and the Cape Ann Business Incubator (CABI) ECCO has just created a new "interest based" youth program located in downtown Gloucester. The purpose of the program is to give a "cool hang-out" space where a roundtable of youth creates the activities within. The program is currently finishing with it's development phase and has just hired a program coordinator, Lauren Riley.
The Cape Ann ECCO group has also been working closely with the region's Workforce Investment Board doing outreach for this summer's "FirstJobs" program. The program asks local business to hire high risk youth, after they attend a training seminar administered through the Workforce Investment Board.
Job Training Machinist (E-Team): We continue our most
famed program. The goal of the E-Team is to train people to be factory machinists and give them an opportunity to get
good paying jobs. The E-Team program has had 189 graduates. Success is due in part to working
closely with employers and unions so that students are trained for
available jobs; to date all graduates have received jobs. Recently,
we have had larger classes with a large number of women for the first
time. The annual training course goes from fall to spring, requiring
three nights a week plus Saturdays.
Job Training in Health Care: Our Jobs Team has been
doing extensive preparation for extending the methodology of the E-Team
into the field of the allied health professions. Many job training
programs that help health care workers advance to better paying levels
are not filled because of lack of prerequisite skills including English
writing and conversation and mathematics. We will provide tutors for
incumbent employees to meet these needs in contextually sensitive ways
so that they can pass entrance exams for local college LPN and RN programs.
State Housing Development Resident's Group: Through the Resident’s
Group formed in 2004, the residents of the Gloucester Riverdale park advocate for themselves with the Housing Authority, leading to substantial
building repairs. An alliance with the Cape Ann Food Pantry has resulted, as well as a strong relationship
with the Gloucester police, and the community center has been kept open for after school and
summer youth programs. Residents and ECCO leaders meet monthly with the Housing
Authority; they also have gone to the State House to lobby legislators for funding
for capital improvements for State Housing Developments.
School Funding Initiative: In bleak financial times for the city of Lynn, city officials are proposing large cuts to the local school budget. In response to this, ECCO is bringing together a cross section of the community with the goal of creating a dialogue with local officals to address this as an issue.
Economic Development Committee: ECCO, in partnership with the North Shore Labor Council (NSLC) Neighbor to Neighbor (N2N) and several other community groups, has created an Economic Development Committee to look into the effects on the local community of the city's proposed Waterfront and Sagamore Hill Redevelopment Plans. The committee's goal is to create a reasonable community benefits agreement that includes money set aside for low income housing, and guarantees construction jobs for Lynn residents.
CORI Reform: ECCO has begun to host meetings with state and local legislators to ask for a reformation of the state's CORI system (Criminal Offense Record Information). Studies are showing that the CORI system is directly linked to a higher recidivism rate for ex-offenders. ECCO is asking state legislators to look into a more fair hiring practice for ex-offenders (with the exception of capital and sex crime offenses).
State funding legislative activity
ECCO is one of six members of the faith based community organizing umbrella, Massachusetts
Communities Action Network (MCAN). We work at the state level with other
groups with similar commitments. Through our legislative oriented actions, the
following funding sources are in the State budget:
The Shannon Anti-Gang Violence Initiative provides $11 million in funding specifically geared towards crime violence intervention and prevention programs. ECCO as well as some others have been dilligently working on a funding increase for this grant porogram from $11-$15 million.
The DPH Youth Violence Prevention Fund. The Department for Public Health (DPH) youth violence prevention pilot fund is $2 million dollars. ECCO and the Safe Teens/Safe Communities Coalition have been working to increase that funding to $5 million in both the governor's budget and the Legilsative.
YouthWorks Administered through regional Workforce Investment Boards. The "YouthWorks" programs offer training and job placement for after school and out of school time students. The funding for this program is currently $6.7 million and ECCO is asking legislators to increase that to $9.0 million
In addition to funding, our legislative efforts contributed to an increase in
minimum wage from $6.75 to $7.50, effective January 1, 2007.
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