Good Things are Happening.

2012-02-09T12:04:00.000-08:00

Hey ECTA Friends!

We'd like to give you an update of the good things going on in February and March...there's lots to look forward to!

First, we are going to be holding a fundraiser for the entire month of March at Rock Bottom in South Denver. When we send out the newsletter this month, a flyer will be attached. All you have to do is bring in the flyer and give it to your server. 10% of your total check will be donated directly to ECTA. It's easy and it'll help us out a lot!

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Denver Street Soccer (DSS) is having a Soccer Tournament on March 3rd at the Foothills Indoor Arena. If you or someone you know would like to participate, go to www.mysoccergame.com to register and get all of the details.

DSS is working with Ecumenical Refugee and Immigration Services with their refugees from Thailand. They have a group of volunteers from Colorado Christian University Men's Soccer team that will be coaching, mentoring, and tutoring the refugees that we will be working with. One of their players from last year, Sean Spencer, is now working full time as a security guard at the Broncos Stadium. Big thanks to Sean's mentor for helping out! Another one of their players, Joel Lawmann, is coaching basketball at Bear Creek High School for the freshman, junior varsity, and varsity teams.

Awesome stuff, right?!

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AND! Surfcare is getting ready to head to Haiti! Next week, Ryan Kuja is off to check out Surf Haiti's community development project in Jacmel as well as Medair's project (the organization Ryan worked with in South Sudan) in that region as well. He will also be doing a small water filtration project in collaboration with Waves for Water.

More awesomeness. We are so proud!

Hope everyone is having a great February. Be sure to check out ECTA-International.org for more news and updates.

Peace,

ECTA

ECTA is Unity in Action

2011-09-22T16:41:00.000-07:00

It is only fitting to begin ECTA International's first blog post by sharing, oh wonderful reader, our beginnings and where we hope to go with you on this journey. In short, we are a mosaic of social entrepreneurs striving to change the world for the better through our actions in service to our community. Our story begins something like this...

In 2006, two Marines (Andrew Sullivan and Brenton Hutson) were working alongside Iraqi Police officers to develop programs helping to rebuild communities in and around Fallujah which had been torn apart by the ongoing war. At the same time, two social entrepreneurs (Ryan and Amanda Phillips) were working in the most remote areas of northeastern India as they sought to heal a community damaged by corruption and poverty. In these endeavors, all four witnessed the awesome power of communities mobilized into action through empowerment, education, and encouragement.

Through a combination of serendipitous luck and a passion fueled by the positive change they had experienced, Andrew, Brenton, Ryan, and Amanda came together and founded ECTA (Empowering Communities to Transcend Adversity) so that communities around the world could benefit from the actions of those who wish to impact positive change upon the world.

Since then, ECTA has helped to support 6 Project Members representing more than 12 programs spanning over three continents. Throughout ECTA’s history, we have made a habit of breaking away from ineffective tradition in favor of searching out what works. We have adopted practices and policies which have proven worthy of consideration and adoption on a wider scale. Our cause is simply to “do good,” and our project members have done just that. Devastating barriers that non-profits face early on such as lack of resources or a limited knowledge base, difficulty with understanding legal responsibilities, or frustration that their vision will never become reality are addressed as ECTA utilizes a “hub” model; one in which administrative functions are pooled together to allow for each project to focus their efforts on what matters most by stabilizing faster, accessing useful information and receiving encouragement from each other.

At ECTA, we know our projects but we also know our people. It’s what sets us apart and empowers community leaders to, “Be the change…”

We look forward to sharing our daily routines, achievements, struggles, combined visions and stories with you as we strive to be a community that is indeed "united in action." If you want to find out more about the communities we serve and how we do it, visit us at http://www.ecta-international.org/.

Cheers!