History and Mission
CAMBA is a Brooklyn-based non profit organization with programs throughout the diverse neighborhoods of Brooklyn. CAMBA was founded as a merchants association in 1977, but in direct response to the emerging needs of the Brooklyn community, has steadily expanded its services. CAMBA has grown into a full-service, community-based organization providing a continuum of employment, education, health-related, housing, legal, social, business development and youth services to approximately 30,000 individuals each year.

CAMBA’s scope of services allows us to accomplish our dual mission of: (1) enabling low income individuals and families to become economically and socially self sufficient; and (2) stabilizing and expanding the economy of Brooklyn by working with local merchants and entrepreneurs and encouraging economic development.

Who We Serve
CAMBA serves persons of low-income; persons moving from welfare to work; persons who are homeless, at risk of homelessness or transitioning out of homelessness; persons living with or at risk of AIDS and HIV; immigrants and refugees; youth; and other groups, working to become self sufficient. Our 28 years of experience in working with Brooklyn’s diverse populations has demonstrated to us that, when provided with services and supports that are meaningful and culturally relevant, our clients can make tremendous contributions toward building their own lives, their families and their communities. The majority of CAMBA’s clients live, work and/or attend school in Brooklyn. CAMBA serves local residents of diverse ethnic backgrounds, including recent immigrants and refugees from Guyana, Haiti, and other Caribbean countries, the former Soviet Union, Africa, Latin America, Southeast Asia, and elsewhere. Currently over one third of our clients are immigrants or refugees, 24% of whom are from the Caribbean, 22% from Latin America and 18% from Eastern Europe. Overall, 58% of our clients are African American or Caribbean, 21% are Latino/a, 17% are White, and 2% are Asian/Pacific Islander.

CAMBA's Continuum of Services
CAMBA serves as a one stop shop, connecting our clients to the services they need, by providing programs that address major barriers to self sufficiency and community revitalization. CAMBA continuously responds to the most critical needs by offering a wide range of program areas: Adult and Family Literacy, Business & Community Economic Development, Family Services, HIV/AIDS & Health-Related Services, Quality Housing – Services & Development, Immigration & Refugee Services, Legal Services, Workforce Development and Youth Development.

Beyond Brooklyn
CAMBA’s work has gained international attention because we have proven we are capable of exporting to other counties the knowledge we have gained helping people in our home community. We have demonstrated success in designing programs and delivering services to people from a wide range of cultures and ethnic groups. Success stories include coalition-building in Jerusalem, non-governmental organizational development in Russia, refugee processing in Kosovo and Macedonia, as well as services for victims of human trafficking from Azerbaijan to the Ukraine.

View and download our 2006 Annual Report.