Community Empowerment Association

Community Empowerment Association (CEA) was founded in 1994 by veteran community activist T. Rashad Byrdsong in an effort to reduce and prevent violence in the Homewood-Brushton area of Pittsburgh. CEA’s vision is “Communities united to activate, motivate, and mobilize to affirm and develop their own capacity for health, safety, empowerment and justice.” To realize this vision, CEA’s mission is to restore, reclaim and transform distressed communities through strategic planning, collaboration, advocacy, education and mobilization. CEA seeks to develop the knowledge, skill, leadership and influence that will enables its participants, families and the community to live healthy, secure, fruitful and productive lives.

Core belief of CEA is that children and youth develop best with a sense of order and safety, enriched social interaction, educational achievement, and support by exemplary adults-- even among disadvantaged neighborhoods. CEA's unique intervention paradigm is centered in strengths based empowerment approach, recapturing the resiliency of individuals and family network and facilitating them with the necessary tools to move towards self-determination, self-sufficiency and sustainability. What makes CEA special and different from others is its dedication of staff and the diverse backgrounds that they bring to the service of children and families. These are persons that traditional methods of service and outreach have been less successful in capitalizing insights of their staff members.