A Legacy of Love and Support

SAN DIEGO — ECS could not serve the San Diego community without the generosity and dedication of donors like Steve and Elaine Turnbull. The Turnbulls have been a part of the ECS community for many years; Steve is a former president of the ECS Board of Directors, and Elaine has helped organize the annual fundraising gala for many years.  

Steve and Elaine at the ECS gala. May 2022.

Their relationship with ECS goes even deeper than their service to the organization. When Elaine’s brother needed drug and alcohol treatment, Central East Regional Recovery Center (CERRC) brought him in right away. “His life totally turned around,” Elaine said. The Turnbulls also had a granddaughter who was a foster child at one point. “When I heard what Para Las Familias (PLF) did... to get [children] to bond to their parents or foster parents, to experience that and kind of have a do-over, that really appealed to me that they could do that much for kids,” Steve said. Since then, ECS has been special to the Turnbulls.  

“My heart is really into all the things they do,” Steve remarked. “Drug and alcohol recovery is an important thing to us in our past and our family. Para Las Familias is an important one, foster kids and others who often go into that program. Head Start, I like to see it grow in all of its dimensions... I just think [ECS] is growing, and I love watching it thrive.” 

The Turnbulls are looking forward to this year’s fundraising gala. The event allows them to give back, make connections, and see change in the making. Elaine shared that they enjoy “meeting all kinds of people throughout the diocese and making a lot of connections that way... we invite people that we might be able to get involved working with ECS.” Their connections expand to those receiving support from ECS programs as well. “Talking to clients and becoming acquainted... to be able to go the next year and you know them by name, you can tell a lot of good is getting done,” Steve remarked. “We’re making a difference in their lives; many of those clients are now giving back to ECS, as well,” Elaine added.  

The funds that ECS receives through donations are vital for program impact. Steve shared that donations have helped the growth of PLF and CERRC. Many smaller necessities also depend on donations, ensuring that clients have everything they need. “Things many of us take for granted are so important to those individuals,” Elaine said. 

ECS aims to uplift the entire San Diego community. “You don’t have to be an Episcopalian to be a beneficiary of ECS,” Steve said, to which Elaine followed up “It’s about all of God’s people.” The Turnbulls have been longtime ECS donors, and the organization is grateful they continue to choose ECS as a place of giving. Steve explained that they keep choosing ECS because they see it as “well established, has a reputation for caring, broad, really works to meet the needs of San Diego,” he said. “They do a lot of good services and I think the services they provide fit. They dovetail with some of the needs that the county health can’t, for the homeless for example... that’s worth investing in.”  

Join ECS for the 2024 Moonlight Ball to celebrate the impact of ECS and contribute to the transformative efforts being made. “It’s one of the topnotch organizations, nonprofits in the city,” Steve said. With the help of donors like the Turnbulls, ECS can help ensure that “more people are getting the services needed and information needed to move in a positive direction,” Elaine said. For more information on ECS’ programs, the Moonlight Ball, and ways to give, visit https://www.ecscalifornia.org/.  

ECS Secures Three Grants for Uptown Safe Haven, Head Start, & Para Las Familias

ECS is grateful to those who support our work and our clients. December 2022.

ECS secured three grants from September to November: 

1) $2,923 from Women of St. James by-the-Sea for Uptown Safe Haven (UTSH).

2) $12,500 from the PNC Foundation for Head Start (HS).

3) $5000 from The Big Lots Foundation for Para Las Familias (PLF).

As a nonprofit organization, grants are a valuable resource that helps fund our programs and services and requires a lot of time and preparation to secure.

Our programs impact the daily lives of thousands of San Diegans in need of fundamental health and human services support. These families and clients depend on us to provide high-quality services with care — clients like River, an UTSH resident since August. Before moving to UTSH, River participated in another program that did not achieve effective results. Since becoming a resident of our program, River has enjoyed the freedom of feeling respected in a safe environment while building the skills needed to create mental and physical stability to pursue a better life.  So, partnerships with organizations like those mentioned above are essential in accomplishing our mission.

Grant Highlights:  

In September, the Women of St. James by-the-Sea generously awarded a $2,923 grant to refresh all the linens at Uptown Safe Haven, a 19-unit residential facility that provides transitional housing and support to single adults experiencing chronic homelessness. When residents move into permanent housing of their own, these linens will welcome them with open arms into a dignified, upgraded environment that feels like home.

ECS’ Head Start & Early Head Start programs provide early childhood education and development services to break cycles of poverty among low-income, high-potential families. In October, the PNC Foundation invested a $12,500 grant to support a pilot project at ECS' Head Start in San Ysidro, providing flexible music and movement curricula in collaboration with Kindermusik. When music and movement are practiced together, all lobes of the brain are engaged, creating peak neurological connections for young learners.

In November, the Big Lots Foundation awarded a $5,000 grant to PLF, which currently provides free bilingual and bicultural behavioral health services to children ages 0-12 and their families across San Diego County's South Region. This grant supports efforts to develop a future generation of leaders by reducing the prevalence of mental illness/serious emotional disturbance in daycare, preschool, and elementary school children.

With gratitude, we offer sincere thanks to each organization.

If your corporation or group would like to provide a grant to any ECS programs, please contact Timothy Whipple, Interim Development Director.

ECS Para Las Familias Receives a $70,000 Grant from San Diego Foundation and the Dr. Seuss Foundation

PLF receives a grant to continue providing therapy services to families and children in the San Diego community. August 2022.

Episcopal Community Services’ (ECS) Para Las Familias program provides critical mental and behavioral health services for the youngest members of San Diego’s community and the need for these therapy services continues to grow. To continue to help ECS provide these services at no cost, ECS was recently awarded a $70,000 grant from San Diego Foundation and the Dr. Seuss Foundation.

“For more than 22 years, our Para Las Familias program has worked to strengthen the mental and behavioral health of children throughout our community,” said Elizabeth Fitzsimons, ECS chief executive officer. “We have seen firsthand the impacts traumatic experiences can have not only on children, but also on their parents and caregivers. Through Para Las Familias, we aim to provide accessible and affordable therapy services. This grant from San Diego Foundation and the Dr. Seuss Foundation allows us to continue building upon the good work we are already doing.”

ECS’ outpatient bicultural and bilingual Para Las Familias program serves children 18 months to 12 years old and their families throughout south San Diego County, and works to strengthen the foundational bonds that will set children on track for healthy relationships, self-confidence, and success in school and beyond. Para Las Familias’ therapists provide screening, assessment, family and group therapy, school observation, and teacher/provider consultation at Para Las Familias’ offices, or in the child’s home or classroom. In addition, Para Las Familias also provides adult mental health services and weekly parenting groups to the caregivers of the children it serves. To learn more about Para Las Familias and how to access its services, visit https://www.ecscalifornia.org/para-las-familias or call (619) 565-2650.

About Episcopal Community Services 

For more than 97 years, ECS has been taking action to end generational cycles of hardship, advancing equity and opportunity across our region. The organization is focused on breaking barriers and empowering individuals to create a community where all can pursue an abundant life. Serving more than 6,000 individuals a year, ECS’ programs increase access to early childhood education and development services and strengthen the mental and behavioral health of individuals and families in our communities. For more information on ECS, visit https://www.ecscalifornia.org/.