Our Core Beliefs

Our core belief statement present the lens that we view our world, our work  and serve as the foundation for our organizational endeavors: 

• About Community: It is our belief that communities should be comprised of necessary systems and resources that support the lives of the people within them. Furthermore, the degree to which people have access to these life-affirming community elements should not be affected by or dependent on the socio-economic category they happen to fall within. Communities that are configured in this way emerge when the people within them are able to voice their needs and concerns and the primary decision makers are responsive to what is articulated.

• About Nonprofits: Because of its ability to engage and mobilize people, the nonprofit sector is an integral actor in affecting positive, sustainable change to the conditions that exist in the community.  This ability is the primary strategic advantage of the sector which is important for the sector to recognize and embrace if we hope to see substantive improvements in the quality of the lives of the people we serve. Ultimately, the nonprofit sector must act as the vehicles by which people recognize their inherent power to change the circumstances of their own lives at both the individual and societal level.

• About Our Work: It is our vision of community, our understanding of the vital role and important work of nonprofits that compels us to be agents of change on behalf of our region’s nonprofit sector. Over time we seek to engage the sector’s stakeholders in exploration, support, adoption of the principles, practices, and resources that creates a regional environment that enables nonprofit organizations to be effective in the accomplishment of their missions. This belief is the central organizing tenet of our work.

Ecuadorians

The Ecuadorian presence in Chicago dates back to the mid-twentieth century. In 2000 there were 8,941 Ecuadorians in Chicago, making them the fifth largest Latin American group in the city. Chicago joins New York, Miami, and Los Angeles as the four U.S. cities with the largest number of Ecuadorians.

Ecuadorians have dispersed throughout the West and North Sides of the city, primarily in Logan Square, Albany Park, Uptown, and Lake View. There are smaller concentrations in Irving Park, Belmont Cragin, Edgewater, and West Ridge. More recently, there has been an expansion to the suburbs, particularly Skokie, Glenview, Des Plaines, Morton Grove, and Elgin.

Ecuadorians have come to Chicago primarily in two waves. The first, approximately 1965–1976, originated primarily in the provinces of Guayas, Pichincha, Chimborazo, Cotopaxi, and Azuay. Ecuadorians arriving during this period worked mainly in factories, but also in service industries and eventually in retail. Ecuadorian businesses created by this first wave include several travel and courier agencies, restaurants, and food and clothing stores. Housed primarily but not exclusively on Milwaukee, Division, and 26th Streets, these enterprises cater primarily to Latinos. The second large wave of immigration took place in the 1990s. Coming from the highland provinces of Azuay and Cañar, these Ecuadorians relied on networks of family and friends to secure jobs in the restaurant and hotel industry for men, and in the housekeeping and garment industries for women.

Ecuadorian organizations include the Ecuadorian Civic Society, founded in 1959, the Ecuadorian Lions Club, the Federation of Ecuadorian Entities, the Social Association of Azuay, the Cotopaxi Foundation, the Alausí Foundation, and the Civic Society of Cañar. Religious organizations such as the Cristo del Consuelo and the Committee of Jesus of the Great Power have helped to preserve Ecuadorian religious traditions. Additionally, there are folkloric dance groups and several sports teams organized with the assistance of the Los Andes Sports and Social Club. Their presence in the city is most visible on Sunday afternoons, when the park on Wilson and Lake Shore Drive is visited by hundreds of Ecuadorians participating, as players or spectators, in soccer and volleyball tournaments.

Important annual events organized by the Ecuadorian community include Ecuadorian week around August 10, involving cultural exhibits, a picnic, and a parade that starts on Montrose and California and heads west, ending at Pulaski. Several music festivals, charity balls, beauty queen competitions, and fundraisers are held throughout the year.