Our Founder 

“I left Ethiopia in 1977 during the so-called Red Terror campaign, where hundreds of thousands of Ethiopians were executed as a result of the political upheaval. I walked from Ethiopia to the Sudan and was fortunate enough to be given an opportunity to come to this country as a political refugee. That was in 1979, June, when I arrived here [United States of America] there was literally no organization, whatsoever, that voices, advocates on behalf of African refugees – that is how it [African Services Committee] started. I said ‘I am here now, the opportunity in front of me, I need to do something and initiate a program and be a positive member of society. “

—

Asfaha Hadera

African Services Committee’s Founder and Co-Executive Director

Televised interview on African American Legends hosted by Dr. Roscoe C. Brown, CUNY University Professor.

Timeline

November 1982: We open our first office at the Community Church of New York.

July 1987: Our refugee resettlement program begins in NYC.

March 1991: We launch our HIV prevention outreach program for African immigrants.

December 1994: Our name changes to African Services Committee.

March 1998: We begin HIV legal services & case management for immigrants and their families.

July 1998: The UN Economic and Social Council approves African Services’ special consultative status to the United Nations.

June 1999: Our HIV Housing Program begins.

April 2000: African Services moves to Harlem.

June 2001: We play a key role in the first UN General Assembly Special Session on AIDS.

April 2002: African Services joins the NGO communities’ delegation to the board of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB, and Malaria.

January 2003: African Services becomes the North American representative to the UNAIDS Coordinating Board.

July 2003: African Services Ethiopia is established, launching our first testing center in Addis Ababa.

March 2005: Our second clinic in Ethiopia opens, a public-private partnership to serve employees of BGI and the greater Amhara Region.

September 2005: African Services Ethiopia marks a significant milestone – 25,000 HIV tests provided.

May 2006: We celebrate our 25th anniversary in NYC.

July 2007: Doors open at our third clinic in Mekele, Northern Ethiopia.

May 2008: Pediatric HIV care began at all three clinics in Ethiopia.

May 2009: African Services Co-executive Director joins UNITAID as NGO alternate board member.

June 2009: Love & Let Live, the first African language HIV awareness campaign, launches in NYC.

April 2010: We celebrate 10 years based in Harlem.

October 2010: Zeway Clinic opens in Ethiopia.

December 2010: ASC begins anti-retroviral treatment provision in Ethiopia.

April 2011: We celebrate our 30th Anniversary.

May 2011: ASC receives the Calderone City Health Award

October 2012: Hawassa Clinic opening in Ethiopia

October 2013: ASC celebrates 10 years of service in Ethiopia

March 2015: ASC awarded Service Organization of the Year at WomenWerk Gala

May 2016: ASC awarded Organization of the Year at the New York Immigration Coalition’s Gala