The Core Campaigns

Since 1980 EBC has organized local congregations and institutions to build power to produce real change. We started in East Brooklyn, expanded to Central Brooklyn and supported the founding/refounding of sister organizations affiliated with the IAF in the Bronx, Manhattan and Queens. Currently, we are focused on the following core campaigns.

Affordable Housing and Community Development

EBC is fighting for the new construction of thousands of affordable Nehemiah homes, affordable apartments, and an entire new generation of affordable senior housing are key.


EBC intends to halt the march of gentrification by preserving and improving for another generation the stock of decent affordable apartments in communities by acquiring, stabilizing and upgrading thousands of now-affordable rental properties in the communities represented by EBC and our sister organizations in New York. Led by local residents, EBC organizes to improve neighborhoods to ensure quality of living for all residents.

School Transformation

Beginning 25 years ago, EBC and Metro IAF spearheaded the creation of the first generation of new, smaller, public high schools. We then welcomed the arrival of high-quality independent public charter schools and public charter networks – Achievement First, KIPP, and Uncommon Schools – that provided alternatives and choices to the parents and students in New York’s African and Hispanic communities. The integration and coordination of these schools – traditional public, more recent public, and public charters – is a high priority. 

Criminal Justice Reforms and Mental Health

EBC has consistently pressed for professional policing – objective, accountable, effective – as opposed to the dynamic of over-policing (abusive behavior) or under-policing (neglectful behavior) that has often plagued communities. Every improvement of existing criminal justice practices – diversion at the front end, expungement at the back end, greater access to drivers licenses and living wage jobs – will make it possible for individuals to find and pursue paths that are laudable and give them an unfettered start (or-restart) and a fair chance in the race of life that all deserve.


EBC is now focusing on the diversion of those struggling with mental illness from jails or emergency rooms into well-run crisis stabilization facilities and long-term housing with support services, as well as other criminal justice reforms.

Public Housing - New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA)

The preservation of the largest concentration of affordable rental housing – the 180,000 units of public housing, including 500,000 New Yorkers – is a major priority. EBC is focused on the key issues facing NYCHA residents - the removal of mold and lead from all apartments, the improvement of repair and maintenance systems, building upgrades of security, heating, and cooling systems and development of senior housing on NYCHA land.

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