Objective
At a time when public education, health and youth services are in decline from loss of funding, Enon-Coulter CDC (ECCDC) fills that void in the community. The problems facing the community ECCDC serves include a higher than average dropout rate, a disappearing social safety net, depressed economic activity, obesity, and chronic diseases (especially HIV/AIDS).
ECCDC provides an opportunity to proactively combat these health, economic, and social ills by lifting up young people and their families through education, health, and youth services all delivered with community investments in capital assets that stimulate job creation. Our symbiotic relationship with Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church (Enon) and the breadth and scope of the church’s ministry uniquely positions these programs to impact a significant number of youth and their families across the greater Philadelphia area.
Identity, Vision and Mission
ECCDC serves in partnership with Enon helping the church to fulfill its mission of serving the community through its various programs and expanding its work in the areas of education, youth and health services. The CDC also fosters collaborations with funders and like-minded organizations to further meet the unmet needs in the community. The vision is to be one of the premiere health and youth development organizations in the City of Philadelphia.
The mission is to revitalize the community Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church serves and address issues that threaten its quality of life through programs that:
- Improve access to educational opportunity
- Launch innovative initiatives to improve health
- Promote youth development and fitness
- Spark urban renewal
- Develop a spirit of community
ECCDC programs seek to improve the lives of our youth, their families and the surrounding community to effect systemic change across generations. These programs do that through an introspective approach: character building, behavioral change, values and skills development, and mentorship. ECCDC’s approach integrates faith based values into serving the needs of the community.
The foundation of the ECCDC business model is to serve the community in a just way according to the values set forth our Baptist Christian Faith Tradition. Our aim is to positively impact the Greater Philadelphia community by acting as a catalyst within the community to explore and expose the underfunding and programmatic failures for underserved communities and ask the hard questions about youth, health and education issues. Finally, the ECCDC seeks to stimulate sustainable, long-term economic development through ownership of community assets, e.g. a state of the art athletics complex, with financial and human capital investment from both ourselves and our collaborative partners.
Key Milestones Achieved to Date
ECCDC is an integral partner of Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church. Poised to extend the reach of its existing programs in to the Greater Philadelphia Community, the CDC has the advantage of building upon the success of the existing programs at work in the Enon community.
Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church has over 1,200 young people participating in sports activities that have provided national prominence and success. The health initiatives include a men’s health conference that attracts over 1,000 men annually for health screenings including cancer, hypertension, HIV/AIDS etc. These initiatives set a record in 2010 for the largest single site in Pennsylvania for HIV screenings according to the Center for Disease Control. The Pregnancy Preparation Institute supports young mothers in need of care and services.