Eden Community Ventures Corporation’s (“ECVC”) mission is to create jobs and economic opportunity in lower-income communities through the direct support of small businesses as well as by advocating for systemic change to increase investment in these vulnerable communities. ECVC contends that old approach of achieving economic self-sufficiency by training urban residents for higher-paying jobs is a necessary step forward but not a sufficient one to fully address the issue of poverty and wealth inequity in America’s urban cities.