Ethiopians in the Greater Seattle area have felt the need, for quite a long time, for a self help association to help comfort those who have lost the loved ones. Although there is a huge financial burden associated with funeral proceedings, the need was more than financial. In the true sense of the traditional association of 'Edir', the community also needed members who would visit, comfort, console, and encourage them at the time of their loss. To this end, a few members of the Ethiopian community took the initiative of forming a group to work towards this in mid-2007.

The founding members prepared bylaws and constitution and called for a general meeting on February 2007. The general meeting adopted the constitution and by laws and elected 15 members as the governing board. The Board, in turn elected 7 members as Executive Committee (EC) members and assigned responsibilities. The Executive Committee completed all the required paper work and formed Ethio Edir as a Washington based non-profit organization in January 2008. As a result, the organization's fiscal year is running from February 1st to January 31st.

At the completion of its second year, the association has over 90 members. The EC strongly believes that membership will grow dramatically once the community members are fully informed of the presence of such an association and its worthy objectives. The Executive Committee encourages all Ethiopians in the Greater Seattle area to come join Ethio Edir !! Let's keep the age old self help culture alive !!