Experience Community Development Corp
Community Healing Program
Experience Community Development Corporation (ECDC) is a community-based organization working to reduce violence and strengthen neighborhoods across South Los Angeles through healing-centered, relationship-driven programming.
Their Community Healing Program is a trauma-informed initiative supporting active gang members—referred to as tribe members—on a path toward personal growth, reconciliation, and leadership. The program is anchored by a 7-week healing cohort that combines communication skills, conflict resolution, emotional development, and mentorship from trusted community leaders (“Old G’s”). Each participant is paired with a care coach, whose consistent support helps build trust, accountability, and long-term engagement
The Power of Healing-Centered Community Change
The Community Healing Program addresses one of South Los Angeles’ most persistent challenges—cycles of violence rooted in trauma, disconnection, and lack of opportunity—by centering healing as the foundation for change. Rather than short-term intervention, ECDC focuses on relationship-building, consistency, and leadership development, creating space for real behavioral shifts and reconciliation.
The impact has been profound. Participants have formed deep bonds across rival groups, demonstrated measurable changes in behavior, and stepped into new roles as Peace Advocates and junior facilitators. Youth have led service projects in neighborhoods once defined by conflict, while the addition of care coaches has strengthened engagement and long-term participation. To date, the program has reached more than 200 individuals through healing cohorts, monthly convenings, youth retreats, women’s circles, and justice-system support.
What began as a series of facilitated sessions has evolved into a family-centered model of community healing—one rooted in love, accountability, and the belief that transformation is possible when people are seen and supported. As ECDC continues to expand long-term engagement pathways beyond the initial cohort, the Community Healing Program stands as a powerful example of how healing, leadership, and peace can be cultivated—one relationship at a time.
