Community Engineering Corps (CECorps)

Background

The goal of our work with CECorps is to provide engineering services to communities within the U.S. who are unable to easily retain or afford engineering services. CECorps is a collaboration between Engineers Without Borders (EWB), American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and American Water Works Association (AWWA), which is led by an EWB Program Director. 

Our Current Work:

CECorps started organizing in San Francisco in 2019 and we currently have 5 active projects:

  • The Regional Water Quality Control Board required the Weott Community Services District to conduct a study to determine if their leach field is impacting groundwater.  CECorps volunteers designed a study to address this requirement.  It involves the collection and analysis of groundwater samples from a nearby well for coliform bacteria and nitrogen compounds. The sampling program will begin in 2021.

  • We are working with Richmond LAND, a community land trust in Richmond,  to develop a Tiny Home Village on two parcels in North Richmond (unincorporated Contra Costa County).  CECorps volunteers will provide general civil and structural engineering services for the development.   

  • CECorps (San Francisco and Sonoma County chapters) is working with the Tiny Pine Foundation to support the development of a tiny home village in Concow CA that would provide housing for survivors of the 2018 Camp Fire.  The concept is to build about 30 tiny homes and a community area which would include a community garden, playground and community center building. 

  • We working with the UC Berkeley chapter on a project for a church in Vallejo, CA.  Tiny homes will be provided to house the homeless on the church’s parking lot.  CECorps is assisting with the provision of utilities such as water, sewer and electricity 

  • We are also partnering with Bayview BOOM, a community-based organization in the Bayview neighborhood of San Francisco, that was founded to teach marginalized youths how to build and market mobile electronics. CECorps has assisted BOOM with their recruitment efforts for volunteers with expertise in circuit design, battery technology, bluetooth programming, as well as other electronics skills.  

    We are always looking for volunteers who would be interested in working on CECorps projects. Volunteers that are currently participating on other EWB teams in the chapter are welcome, as well as new volunteers or chapter members who have not yet joined one of the international project teams. This is a great opportunity to deploy your talents to serve local communities in need. As we build the teams, there will also be leadership opportunities for the volunteers.

If you want to learn more about the work Community Engineering Corps is doing on a national level, visit their website.

Get Involved

  • Check out the Calendar for team meeting times and upcoming fundraisers

  • E-mail the CECorps SF coordinator, Jim Quinn, and let him know of your interest. He will also add you to the CECorps listserv.

  • Join us in the fall at SFari, our annual fundraiser

  • Make a donation! All funds, whether $5 or $500, help the teams in changing someone’s life.

A CECorps chapter hard at work.