From Head Start Student to Advocate

Amanda, now the policy advisor for the office of Chula Vista Mayor John McCann, is an advocate for ECS Head Start. However, her relationship with Head Start began years before she entered the mayor’s office; it began when she herself was a Head Start student. 

ECS Head Start gave Amanda’s family much needed support. *January 2025.

Amanda’s grandparents and her mother immigrated from Tijuana to Chula Vista when her mother was a little girl. Many challenges awaited her as she adapted to a new country and language. When she was in high school, she got pregnant with Amanda and while Amanda was a blessing to the family, the addition of a baby created new obstacles. Her mother worked one or two jobs at a time while also attending school. Amanda’s grandparents were able to care for her in her mother’s absence, but obstacles remained regardless. Amanda’s family needed support, otherwise her mother would need to drop out of school to continue providing for the family. 

Head Start created a strong educational foundation for Amanda. *January 2025.

Just in time, Amanda’s family found solace at ECS Head Start. Castle Park Head Start, located down the street from Amanda’s home, was also next door to her mom’s school, allowing the mother and daughter to spend more time together. “Sometimes during my recess and her nutrition break she would come to see me outside the gate, and we would play together,” Amanda recalled.    

Amanda shared a number of endearing Head Start memories, from lining up to walk to the playground, making friends, and even learning to always chew with her mouth closed. “I remember they [the Head Start teachers] would always do story time; they would teach us how to brush our teeth, how to read, how to clean up after ourselves. They were teaching a lot of basic social skills and just a lot of manners and how to be polite,” Amanda shared. “[My family] definitely knew it was a good place for me to be in and they saw me learning colors, I was learning my alphabet, I was learning how to socialize with other kids.” 

Preschool aged Amanda plays with classmates at Head Start. *January 2025.

Amanda and friends enjoy a cookie cake. *January 2025.

Head Start early childhood education goes beyond just academics and ensures that children are growing in all aspects of life. Amanda shared that as a shy child, Head Start helped her break out of her shell and feel prepared for kindergarten. “They really do prepare you for the next stages of life,” she said. 

Amanda’s positive experience with Head Start led her mom to place her younger siblings in the program, as well. “It really gave her peace of mind knowing that her kids are going to be okay, and they’re going to be learning and growing as a little person while she’s out there working and making sure she can provide for us,” she said. 

Amanda and her family are one example of the impact Head Start makes, but the quality early childhood education has touched countless families in the South Bay region. “They give you the tools you need in life,” Amanda said. “It’s very important that we are providing these programs to our low-income families just because there’s a lot of those here in South Bay and you can’t ignore it or avoid it.” Instead, of avoiding families in need of support, Head Start uplifts those families. 

ECS Family Engagement Center’s Grand Opening gave Amanda the opportunity to share her Head Start experience with the wider community. August 2024.

In August, Amanda attended and spoke at the grand opening of ECS’ Family Engagement Center (FEC). She shared how important it is to extend ECS’ services to any community member through a resource hub like FEC. “Having that hub there really helps families because now they don’t have to go look to find these resources,” Amanda said. “You’re bringing all of these resources to them, front and center.” 

Through her position in the mayor’s office and through her first-hand experience, Amanda knows that Head Start is a valuable part of the community. “I really do see the benefit of it. I experienced it, my family experienced it,” she said. “Head Start is pretty crucial for kids, especially at such a young age to get the ball rolling in their education.”  

Amanda advocates for ECS and Head Start through her position in the mayor’s office. September 2024.

San Diego is built on a beautiful and diverse community, and sometimes our neighbors need a helping hand. Head Start offers that support, but it truly takes a village. “It’s definitely really special because no one person or no one organization can do it all alone,” Amanda observed. “I think it’s beautiful for people and organizations to come together and provide that.” ECS Head Start is dedicated to the service of the community’s littlest learners and their families. A quality education is key to a bright future. 

To learn more about ECS Head Start & Early Head Start visit ecsheadstart.org.

*Caption dates may not be exact.

When Compassion Becomes the Foundation

ECS is committed to supporting our neighbors in need so we can excel together. Photo Courtesy of Zac Durante/Unsplash.

Episcopal Community Services (ECS) has been uplifting San Diegans for nearly a century. Although its services have changed and some programs have come and gone, its mission to break barriers and transform communities has remained steadfast. 

John has witnessed the lasting heartbeat of ECS firsthand. A client of ECS in the 90s and a supportive volunteer through the years after, John has not only felt the impact of ECS but has lent a hand to carrying the intention of compassionate service forward.  

When John moved from New Orleans to San Diego to join the Navy, he didn’t know that he was already developing a substance use disorder (SUD). When he overheard a few of his new acquaintances talking about getting drugs downtown, he became interested, so he ventured downtown, made a purchase, and was arrested the very same day. When his urinalysis came back positive for drugs, the Navy no longer wanted to retain him. They gave him the option to go to rehab or back home to New Orleans. “I knew that if I went back home, I was going to be dead,” John said. So, he accepted the help and went to rehab. However, challenges awaited him when he finished the program. “I found out that once I got back to San Diego that I was going to be kicked out [of the Navy] and once I was kicked out, I was going to be homeless,” he explained. 

With only his seabag full of clothes and his final paycheck from the Navy, John was left on his own. He saw a glimmer of hope when he was hired at a new job, but he had no place to go. Then he heard about ECS’ transitional housing program. “God was working in my life,” John said. After a period of waiting, a spot finally opened at the program. John recalled going to the program to interview for the spot and meeting the program manager Linda Thomas, who John described as a “beautiful soul.”  

One of the requirements for the program was a paystub to prove employment. John’s new job did not start until the following week, so he had nothing to show Linda. But he shared his story with her and “she saw the desperation in my eyes and saw that I wasn't running a story on her... so she made an exception,” and John moved in that night.  

“I showed up there at 21 years old with literally no living skills, no responsibilities, other than knowing I needed to survive. I needed to stay clean and sober,” John said. The staff — including Linda and two other staff members, Loren and Cynthia — quickly took him under their wings, checking in on him and supporting him the whole way. “I learned a lot of things. I learned how to be responsible; they gave me the chance to go to school and work and save money.” Cynthia even baked him a cake to celebrate his first year of sobriety.  

The program also led John to his best friend who encouraged him to pursue his goals, such as becoming a registered nurse (RN). “About nine months in, I met my best friend, we became roommates. He’s still my best friend, he’s still sober 34 years,” he said.  

John graduated from the program, maintained sobriety, attended and graduated from college, became an RN, got married, and had two children. “My life has progressively gotten better as a result of all those things I learned at ECS,” he said. 

The services John received at ECS allowed him to grow, build a foundation, and give back. Photo Courtesy of Lina Trochez/Unsplash.

After that transitional housing location closed, John lost contact with the staff members, but he wanted to share his successes with Linda. He wrote letters to four different “Linda Thomases.” “Two of the people wrote back and said, ‘I’m not the Linda Thomas you’re looking for, but you’ve inspired me’... it was a cool side effect of an accident,” he said. Luckily, one of the letters found the right Linda Thomas. He was able to introduce her to his children and “thank her in person for giving me a chance... for seeing something in me that I didn’t see in myself at the time,” John said. 

John was also able to ask Linda how he could continue his journey with ECS. “I always wanted to be kind to people and be helpful, and — especially with ECS — give back,” he said. One day, after speaking with her on the phone about volunteer opportunities, a van pulled up next to John that caught his attention. “It was an ECS vehicle,” he said. “I wrote the phone number down, made the calls, got plugged in, and started to volunteer.” From handyman tasks to cooking Thanksgiving dinner to sponsoring a family through Family-to-Family for the Holidays, John has extended his services to ECS. “I owe my life to the program. It gave me the foundation I needed,” he said.   

ECS staff, volunteers, donors, and board members are dedicated to creating an abundant and equitable society where all have unlimited potential and will continue to work towards these ideals for years to come. To learn more about volunteer opportunities with ECS, visit ecscalifornia.org/volunteer. 

There’s a Gift in Giving

Every child deserves the magic of waking up on Christmas morning to find gifts from Santa waiting under the tree. One way ECS supports our families during the holiday season is through Family-to-Family for the Holidays.  

Family-to-Family for the Holidays, ECS’ annual gift-giving campaign, ensures that every family has a memorable holiday season. Donors who sign up as sponsors are matched with a family that includes at least one member who currently receives services from one of ECS’ programs. In 2023, Family-to-Family provided gifts for more than 315 neighbors from 70 families. Thanks to generous sponsors, many children got to experience a magical Christmas day, a gift you cannot put a price on. 

Precious’ four kids have all been impacted by ECS and the generosity of Family-to-Family sponsors. *November 2024.

Head Start parent and 2023 Family-to-Family recipient Precious is a mother to four children, and, like any parent, she understands just how important childhood Christmas can be. “It’s really important for me to be able to give them something and give them different experiences,” she said.  

Every year for Christmas, Precious’ family decorates their house with twinkling lights and enjoys their own family traditions, one of their favorites being marshmallow fights. “I buy bunches and bunches of marshmallows, and we have marshmallow fights,” Precious explained, laughing. “We say ‘one, two, three, go,’ and we just start chucking them at each other, ‘got you, got you.’” Afterwards, they put all their blankets on the floor in front of the TV and watch movies while sipping on apple cider or hot cocoa. 

Family traditions and fun moments like opening presents on Christmas create a full and beautiful childhood experience. *November 2024. 

Thanks to Family-to-Family, Precious was able to create lasting memories for her children with the joy of carefully chosen, donated gifts. When Precious gives her kids gifts, she often wraps the gift inside several layers of boxes. By happenstance, the Family-to-Family sponsor who was matched with Precious’ family last year wrapped the gifts the same way, much to her kids’ excitement.  

Precious’ sponsor, Melinda, went the extra mile with her gift for Precious, too. Precious shared that she received a set of lotions that lasted for months.

Melinda has participated in holiday gift programs with a number of organizations through the years, but the opportunity for connection between the family and their sponsor makes ECS’ program extra impactful on both sides. “Back then we never met the families or even knew their names. I think that addition to the ECS program makes it super special,” Melinda said. “When I dropped the gifts off at Precious' apartment last year it was clear to see how full her hands were and, despite that, she was gracious, and the kids were adorable (as they usually are).”

“The Family-to-Family Christmas program is a perfect way to show empathy and bridge the sad divide between families that have so much and families that have so little. It is a small thing that can have a huge effect,” Melinda said.

Precious pays it forward through donations to FEC, so other parents have what they need to care for their children, too. *November 2024.

“It’s so nice to know that you can lean on and count on a beautiful person to donate,” Precious said. “I hope I have an impact like that, too.”  

Precious feels passionate about being part of the cycle of giving, making her own donations – such as clothes, sheets, and pillowcases – to the ECS Family Engagement Center to help support other families in the community. 

ECS Head Start has provided quality education and childcare for Precious’ four children, but ECS’ touch has gone beyond those essentials. Precious was able to use many of ECS’ wraparound services including Head Start’s prenatal program and referrals for speech therapy for two of her children. “This is one of the best programs I’ve ever interacted with that can actually advocate for you and is with you,” she said.  

ECS has helped increase Precious’ confidence as a parent and leader. *November 2024.

Head Start’s community of care expands to parents, as well. Precious participates in parent meetings and the policy committee, sat in on interviews for teachers, and traveled to Texas to represent ECS at a Head Start convention. “[Head Start] helped strengthen my confidence in how I was parenting and what I saw in my children,” she said. 

ECS programs like Head Start and Family-to-Family for the Holidays aim to support families like Precious’. “My children have been touched in a positive way by ECS all their lives,” Precious said.  

Join the cycle of giving. Visit ecscalifornia.org/donate to support parents like Precious and help our youngest community members thrive. As Precious put it, “there’s a gift in giving.” 

*Caption dates may not be exact.

The Best is Yet to Come

Matthew found support and compassion at CERRC which helped him achieve his goals. October 2023.

Matthew, a 2023 graduate of the Central East Regional Recovery Center (CERRC) Outpatient Treatment Program, recently celebrated two years of sobriety since starting his recovery journey in October 2022.

Fresh out of a divorce, Matthew shared that he chose the wrong path, “running from my problems, then things continued to downfall.” Before he knew it, he was “going from that perfect imperfect life of owning a house and having a kid to being homeless on the street to getting in trouble with the police.” Matthew explained that he was charged with carjacking and robbery. “The carjacking was for breaking somebody’s window, and the robbery was for a salad,” he said. 

After being released from jail, Matthew was directed to CERRC for outpatient treatment services and support. In the beginning, he had difficulty committing himself to the program. Matthew recalled that he “kind of ran from the sober living,” at first. He said he remained without shelter for two more weeks, “but I would come here [CERRC] and check in. I wasn’t able to put together clean time… especially being on the street,” Matthew said. Even amid the harsh conditions of homelessness, he continued to push forward.   

But then, on Thanksgiving of 2022, about a month into the program, Matthew tried to *commit suicide. “It was a really hard day for me; it was my first Thanksgiving without family, without my daughter. And I just wanted to leave the world silently,” Matthew said. His attempt failed, and he miraculously received a second chance. “I didn’t pass away; I just ended up going to the hospital, breathing like Darth Vader for a long time.”  

After that, Matthew reached a turning point and spent some time healing from the traumatic experience. “I had established some clean time and had done some minor work on myself… that’s when ECS brought me in again. I stayed clean through the whole program,” Matthew said. 

The path to recovery is not easy, but with hard work and a program like CERRC to guide you, the joy of sobriety is possible. **October 2023.

Matthew shared that he has taken many steps in his journey to recovery, “but coming here [CERRC] and getting dedicated to a program and living in a sober living [home] for a long time...  has just changed my thinking, my dynamic.” Matthew said he learned to change his mindset to “keep fighting; I am good enough… I do recovery for myself today because it feels good.”  

Now, Matthew is completely sober, has a job he enjoys, has continuous support from his friends and the CERRC staff, and is currently seeing a therapist. “It’s fun being sober today,” he said. “I’ve never felt this good about myself.” 

CERRC would not have the healing effect it does without its dedicated staff. According to Matthew, “One of the most important things that I can hold on to is the compassion from the staff.” In returning to CERRC for this interview, Matthew shared how welcomed he still felt by all the friendly faces at the program. He explained how much the staff does for clients, ensuring they have the necessities they need. “I feel like my counselor Summer was very understanding of my situation, as far as just being broken at the time for many reasons,” Matthew said. “She has impacted my life forever. And I’ll never forget what she gave me.” 

“There’s a lot of people that want it, that want to get better,” he said. “But it makes it very hard when you can’t even provide for yourself due to circumstances that are sometimes so hard to move through financially, mentally, physically. A program like this really helps you get your foundation going and also brings you back to life mentally.” The work to help those struggling with addiction may not always be easy, but “I think the ones that want it are worth it,” Matthew said. Thanks to CERRC’s programming and the additional services, Matthew regained control of his life and now envisions his future with optimism. “I feel like my 40s are going to be the best years of my life,” he expressed. 

CERRC offers outpatient treatment for adults and transitional aged youth with substance use disorders, focusing on individual counseling, group therapy, and strategic planning. The multidisciplinary team specializes in co-occurring disorders, homelessness, and employment challenges, ensuring connection to additional community services. To learn more, please visit https://www.ecscalifornia.org/central-east-regional-recovery-center. 

*If you or a loved one is experiencing thoughts or suicide ideations, call 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline or 1-888-724-7240 to reach The San Diego Access & Crisis Line (ACL). The hotline is a free and confidential support system available 24/7. 

**Caption dates may not be exact.