Mission

The mission of EACS is to increase the well-being and capacity of East Africans and their families – whether living in Washington State or in the Horn of Africa – by providing them the knowledge, support, and guidance that they require to overcome the hurdles to prosperity.

King County, WA

Since 2000 EACS has continued to provided culturally appropriate and ethnically specific advocacy, information, referrals, and direct social services to Somali, Oromo, Ethiopian and other East African refugees living in King County. Through our services we provide our clients with the tools they need to successfully adjust to their new lives in the United States while simultaneously preserving their diverse cultural heritages.

The East African Refugee Situation

East African resettlement in the United States has occurred in numerous waves over the last 30 years. The first wave of East Africans came following the Refugee Act of 1980 that allowed numerous Ethiopian asylum seekers to escape persecution and violence in their home country. Following the violence and civil war that erupted in Somalia in 1991 thousands of Somali refugees were brought to the US by the Office of Refugee Resettlement. In response to the strife and famine that currently is gripping the Horn of Africa Washington State has accepted nearly 1,500 Somali, Ethiopian, and Eritrean refugees over the last four years. Today, nearly 30,000 East African refugees & immigrants have made the King County their home.

History

EACS was created in 2000 as a response to the lack of sufficient culturally appropriate services for the growing East African community. That year four Somali refugees began a long process of developing their capabilities, establishing an organizational foundation, and  building crucial collaborative relationships with government & other non-profit agencies throughout King County. Over the last 10 years this small organization as grow into one of the premier service providers for East Africans living around the Puget Sound.