EBCAP Celebrates 60 Years of Service
April 9, 2025, officially marks East Bay Community Action Program’s 60th year of service to Rhode Island’s East Bay region. Numerous activities and observances will take place from April through December celebrating 60 years of accomplishments and milestones. One of EBCAP’s major celebrations will be its annual Seaside Gala on Thursday, June 5, at the Wyndham Newport Hotel. With its “Retro Rewind” theme, this event will be filled with nostalgic tributes to EBCAP’s 60 years of dedicated service to the community.
EBCAP evolution began as a result of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s legislative reform to wage the “War on Poverty.” With the passage of the Economic Opportunity Act in 1964, 1,600 Community Action Agencies (CAA) were established in urban, suburban, and rural communities across the nation from 1964 to 1966. On April 9, 1965, New Visons for Newport County, Inc. (eventually re-named East Bay Community Action Program) was incorporated and began its work serving the needs of community members of Newport County. This work included providing utility bill assistance and home weatherization for low-income households, administering Head Start pre-school programs, operating food pantries, and coordinating community initiatives.
In 1966, Self Help, Inc was established as a CAA serving communities in the upper East Bay region of Rhode Island. New Visons and Self Help became well-established community action agencies over the next four decades and, in 2004, decided to merge. They renamed their newly established agency, East Bay Community Action Program. One more merger would take place 12 years later, when EBCAP merged with East Bay Center, a treatment and resource center providing behavioral health care and treatment for substance use disorder. This merger would enable the agency to provide a fully integrated model of healthcare – not only providing medical, dental, behavioral health, and recovery support, but also addressing a wide array of social service needs for individuals and families throughout Rhode Island’s East Bay.
Today, EBCAP has 28 locations, close to 500 employees, and serves more than 31,000 East Bay residents. It is governed by a 15-member Board of Directors and chaired by Jim Vincent, a board member for 34 years and Chair since 2004. EBCAP’s dedicated Leadership Team is led by its President and CEO, Rilwan K. Feyisitan, Jr. and Jesse Shipley, EBCAP’s Chief Operating Officer. Together they provide guidance to EBCAP’s dynamic Senior Leadership Team who work collaboratively in support of the agency’s mission, vision, and strategic development.
