History and Background

Tri-City Peoples Corporation is a non-profit community development corporation. Tri-City has provided comprehensive services to low-income and disadvantaged individuals in the Newark, NJ area since 1966. Tri-City Peoples Corporation was incorporated in 1980, however, the corporation embraces the history of its predecessor, Tri-City Citizens Union for Progress, which was formed in 1966 and incorporated in 1968.  A group of civil rights activists and clergy, led by Eduardo A.A. Andrade and his wife, Rebecca Doggett, formed Tri-City Citizens Union for Progress chapters in Newark, Jersey City and Paterson. These pioneers made an immediate impact on Newark’s community development efforts and were instrumental in guiding the City through the turbulent years during and after the Newark riots. Through their efforts and unswerving commitment to positive change, Tri-City started several social and economic development programs to help residents re-direct their frustration, anger and sense of hopelessness to begin to re-build their communities. Tri-City Citizens Union For Progress served as a training ground for many of today’s leaders, including but not limited to Sheila Oliver, Lieutenant Governor, State of New Jersey; Beverly Lynn, Executive Director/CEO, Programs for Parents; Margaret “Marge” Woods, Executive Director/CEO, Independence: A Family of Services, and many others.

Tri-City was particularly concerned with the general health and welfare of the area’s families who were living in extremely repressive economic and social conditions.  Our founders recognized the need to create neighborhood-based direct service programs that would strengthen and lend support to needy families.  As the organization continued its commitment to help residents living in neighborhoods of concentrated poverty, the agency re-directed its resources toward social investments, such as child care, after school programs, a community-based health center and other services designed to ensure healthy and stable families.

The mission of Tri-City Peoples Corporation is to facilitate social and economic self-sufficiency and to promote citizen civic participation in community development by providing exemplary services in education, employment and technological training, social services, health and mental health care, and housing that meets the needs of the residents and families in Newark, East Orange, Irvington, and surrounding communities. The safety, protection and development of children are at the root of our Mission. By concentrating most of our services toward children, one of Tri-City’s goals is and has been to strengthen the individual family unit as the foundation to strengthening the community at large.

Our programs and services address or respond to social ills produced by inefficient education, lack of employment and/or affordable housing, shortage of quality healthcare services and systemic entitlement programs that breed dependency and family disintegration. In the urban centers of Essex County, children most affected by these challenges are historically and statistically African-American and Latino. Annually serving more than 1,000 individuals, Tri-City is a strong proponent of community self-help, grassroots community organizing, and collaboration and coordination between community institutions. Tri-City is fully persuaded that strong families equate to strong communities. Toward this end, all of Tri-City’s programs and services are designed to enhance family life and to contribute to the individual growth and development of each family member.