About Us
Emmanuel Resource Center aka TheECenter is a 501(c)(3) charitable nonprofit Christian Ministry established to teach and enrich individuals within the Linden community through faith-based services, including biblical and spiritual training concerning the Gospel of Jesus Christ, providing emotional and mental health coaching, educational and literacy help with Pre-K thru 3rd-grade reading readiness and comprehension, basic computer classes, life skills development for teens and adults. Our programs include vision and how it affects your decisions, effective communication, conflict resolution, overcoming shyness, time management, money management, and other topics). We hope to offer the following topics in the future: tutoring (reading, math, vocabulary & spelling), and homework help, which will change individuals' lives and help them build a strong community. Our target area is the Linden community. TheECenter was formed as a place where people can receive these services in a safe, caring, and friendly atmosphere.
Our Mission
Our mission is to empower and transform individuals of all backgrounds by offering free, captivating, and comprehensive educational, social, and financial literacy curriculums, along with biblical instruction and spiritual coaching. With our curriculums and resources, we aim to create a profound and lasting impact on the lives of underprivileged children and their families. By empowering our participants to make informed spiritual, social, and monetary decisions and understand their value, they will gain the tools necessary to overcome obstacles. More educational, spiritual, and financial literacy contributes to a more equitable society, where everyone can attain a better future for themselves and their loved ones.
Our Vision
Our vision is to enrich the Linden Community through faith-based services, biblical and spiritual training, emotional and mental health coaching, early childhood literacy, and life skills development which will impact and change lives. As lives are changed, the Linden Community will change making it a great place to live and work. Our vision is for this work to expand beyond the Linden Community to other underserved areas.
Our History
The idea for TheECenter was given to me by God in 1999, while I was looking at an old bowling alley in a local shopping center called Northern Lights Shopping Center. The building was vacant at the time, and I remember thinking “Wouldn’t this be a great place to provide tutoring, homework help, reading readiness, and comprehension, life skills program, and spiritual training programs, along with adding a place where people can come for recreational activities. A place where they would not have to be concerned about safety and our programs would be conducted in a loving, caring, supportive, and Christ-centered environment.
In 1999 services were limited in this area literacy was on the decline and youth had few places where they could have recreational activities without violence. Some churches offered some of the services I was considering offering but most of the people in the area did not want their kids to go to a church for these services. My thought was why not provide these services in a nonchurch environment? We can offer these services in a loving atmosphere, caring, compassionate, and supportive. This will allow the participants to get to know the people who work and volunteer and as they get to know the team, opportunities will be opened for sharing the gospel and helping them in a very practical way.
As I continued to ask the Lord about this, He gave me the name Emmanuel (God With Us) Resource Center, a place where we provide people with the knowledge and skills needed to help them in their life's journey, help them leave a legacy, and help them change the lives of those around them through what they have learned. Putting this together Emmanual Resource Center will be a place where people will gather where God is in the midst and a place where people can receive instruction, training, and support to help them grow practically and spiritually.
In 2021, our Board of Trustees was formed and at the first board meeting we gave the Emmanuel Resource Center the aka “TheECenter”. The “E” is for Emmanuel – The Emmanuel Center. It was at this time we began developing our policies for the organization, programs, and volunteers. We call these our foundational pieces (policies, programs, and volunteers).
Core Values
Christian principles of love, compassion, care, and hope have been incorporated into our training, philosophy, and services. Everyone within this organization is committed to living a Christ-centered life, based on the scriptures as stated in Galatians 5:22-23. These scriptures encourage us to show love by serving others and operating with compassion, integrity, trustworthiness, and excellence in the quality of our service to others. As God so loved us, we share that same love, compassion, care, and hope in our training and services to those who attend our programs.
Statement of Organizational Core Values:
1. Christian - acceptance of Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.
2. Living a Christ-centered scripture-based lifestyle.
3. Love - having a passion for what we do, the people we serve, and each other.
4. Compassion - expressing concern for the sufferings or misfortunes of others.
5. Kindness - the quality of being friendly, generous, and considerate toward others.
6. Perseverance - determination to get things done.
7. Integrity - Acting honestly and responsibly.
8. Trustworthiness - the ability to be relied on as honest or truthful.
9. Respectfulness - Treating others with fairness, equality, dignity, and respect.
10. Confidentiality - keeping confidential matters confidential.
11. Excellence in the quality of our services.
Youth Power: We believe in the limitless potential of young people and choose to invest in
them as the key to a brighter future for our communities and our world.
Wellbeing: We foster safe spaces that enhance the social, emotional, and physical wellbeing of
young people and their families, while also making our community a safer place to live.
Community- We believe in the value of healthy, lasting relationships between our staff, board,
students, and families, and do our part to contribute to the communities we are part of.
Learning - We treat challenges as learning opportunities and continually evolve to meet the
needs of the students we work with based on what we learn.
We collaborate and build community through partnerships founded on integrity and trust.
These values are consistently communicated to everyone within this organization and to our stakeholders, partners, and collaborators