Our Services
What we do
Place Making
The CEDC creates events, public art exhibits, and learning activities for neighborhood residents to enjoy. Our work builds pride and excitement in the neighborhood. Working with immigrants from Central America and the Caribbean, CEDC fosters ownership of public spaces from the Newcomer groups. Events Include: · Patio De Comida · 20Mi2 · Festival Tipico de Guatemala · Public Murals
Immigrant Support Network
The CEDC has worked with the new immigrant community in New Bedford for over 25 years. We build trust with community members and are many times their first stop when looking for assistance. Our immigrant support network programing includes many services helping to address the direct needs of community members. Services include but are not limited to: · Family reunification · Workmen's compensation · Unemployment application assistance · SNAP & RAFT application assistance · Job and rental applications · Translation of critical documents · Interpretation services · Immigration applications · School enrollment · Paid Family Medical Leave Assistance · General assistance navigating complex systems, including health, legal, tax and education.
Covid–19 Vaccine Promotion & Health Equity
The CEDC works to promote the uptake of Covid- 19 vaccines to address the health disparities in New Bedford. We educate people about the importance of vaccination and provide vaccination access at our place making events to better reach the immigrant community. CEDC is also working to address other health care access barriers . We work with Greater New Bedford Community Health Center to bring Community Health Workers into the neighborhood to help address health questions. We are also partnering with the University of Massachusetts community nursing program to create a mini-clinic in the North End.
Volunteer in Tax Assistance (VITA)
The VITA Program is a partnership with UMass Dartmouth Charlton School of Business. The VITA Program helps working families file their taxes for free. Saving families an average of $240.00 in tax preparation fees. Over the last season we prepared over 1700 tax returns bringing 3.1 million in returns. We specialize on education and accessibility to tax credits such as: · Earned income credit · Child tax credit · American opportunity credit · Senior circuit breaker credit · Tax troubleshooting · ITIN certifying agent · Stimulus payments We provide year-round tax help
Capitol Theater Resilience Hub
WHALE is thrilled to partner with the Community Economic Development Center (CEDC) on the Capitol Theater building, located in the North End on Acushnet Avenue. This transformative project will restore and rehabilitate the 1920 mixed-use film theater and commercial building for use as a resource hub for the North End. The 25,000 SF building is currently over ninety percent vacant, but once rehabilitated will provide much-needed community space for CEDC and other local non-profits to expand programming and resources. In particular, this project has a focus on incorporating community co-working and small business incubator elements to stimulate local economic development, with food-oriented business incubator space and workshop space for vocational training. The rehabilitated building will also provide office space for CEDC, affordable housing, and resilience hub space. Beyond restoring the historic Capitol Theater building itself, this project will also contribute to the broader revitalization effort of the Acushnet Avenue corridor.
About Us
Community mission: Incorporated in 1997 as a Community Development Corporation, our mission is to create a more just local economy by building bridges to resources, networks, and cooperative action for new immigrants and working families to find their way to economic opportunity.
Community vision: To provide a three-prong “people-centered asset-based” pathway where all those in the immigrant community and working families have access to essential resources and skill-building connections within the community to work collaboratively towards longer-term community change and resilience.
Throughout our efforts, we recognize the importance of approaching economic development strategies by utilizing the strengths and skills of women, minority, and immigrant-owned entrepreneurs and community members to create jobs and build on community networks and collaborations to help our local economy to thrive.
Client Testimonials
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“A testimonial from a client who benefited from your product or service. Testimonials can be a highly effective way of establishing credibility and increasing your company's reputation.”
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“A testimonial from a client who benefited from your product or service. Testimonials can be a highly effective way of establishing credibility and increasing your company's reputation.”
Client name