About Us | Wsecdc

Watts Station Economic & Community Development Corporation, aka WSECDC, concentrates its efforts in the city of Watts, the Antelope Valley, and other communities throughout California to combat health, education, social, and economic disparities in marginalized populations and communities.

Watts Station Economic & Community Development Corporation (WSECDC) is a California nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization founded in November 2021 in Watts, California.

WSECDC was created from a simple but powerful understanding:

Where people live, work, learn, eat, raise families, and grow older directly influences their health and quality of life.

Our work began by examining the public health challenges experienced by African American and Black communities, particularly in Watts, and by paying close attention to the impact of COVID-19 and other health challenges on residents.

What we observed reinforced an important reality: health disparities are not simply individual problems.

While disease ultimately affects individuals, the elevated rates of illness and premature death experienced by many Black communities are influenced by broader social, economic, environmental, and structural conditions.

OUR GOAL

WSECDC's goal is to educate, empower, connect, and mobilize residents and community partners to improve health outcomes, environmental conditions, economic opportunity, and quality of life in historically disenfranchised communities.

We accomplish this by:

Increasing access to reliable, understandable, and culturally responsive health information;
Educating residents about how environmental and social conditions affect health;
Promoting healthy eating, disease prevention, wellness, and healthy living;
Connecting residents to trustworthy healthcare, social services, and community resources;
Developing community-based environmental health and improvement projects;
Expanding access to agriculture, healthy food, and food-production opportunities;
Engaging youth as health advocates and community leaders;
Supporting entrepreneurship and pathways to economic self-sufficiency;
Supporting housing stability and community development; and
Building a coordinated, inclusive network of organizations and service providers committed to improving the communities they serve.

Our measurable aspiration is a community that is more informed, more engaged, more connected, more economically empowered, and better equipped to take responsibility for its collective health and future.

OUR MISSION

The mission of Watts Station Economic & Community Development Corporation (WSECDC) is to improve the environmental health and overall well-being of historically disenfranchised and underserved communities through education, information, community outreach, prevention, intervention, collaboration, and economic and community development.

WSECDC works to create informed, engaged, and empowered residents who understand the relationship between their health, their environment, their economic circumstances, and the systems that affect their quality of life.

We build trusted, culturally responsive networks of community organizations, service providers, residents, businesses, educators, healthcare professionals, and public agencies to increase access to reliable resources and create practical pathways toward healthier families, stronger communities, and sustainable community development.

We believe healthier people create wealthier communities, and healthier communities are safer and cleaner communities.

OUR PURPOSE

WSECDC exists because health disparities do not occur in isolation.

A person's health is influenced not only by individual choices, but also by the conditions surrounding that person—including access to healthy food, safe housing, clean air and water, economic opportunity, education, healthcare, transportation, safe public spaces, and trustworthy information.

Our purpose is to help communities understand and address these conditions.

We connect health, environment, economic opportunity, and community development so that residents can move beyond simply responding to illness and begin creating the conditions necessary for prevention, wellness, longevity, and prosperity.

WSECDC serves as a bridge between residents and the resources, knowledge, organizations, and opportunities that can improve their lives. We identify gaps, bring partners together, educate residents, develop community-based solutions, and create pathways for residents to participate in improving the places they call home.

Our work began in Watts and is rooted in the belief that communities most affected by disparities should not merely be recipients of services—they should be informed participants, decision-makers, advocates, entrepreneurs, and leaders in creating healthier communities.