ECS is proud to have its CEO featured as the 2024 Laurels for Leaders keynote speaker and is excited to connect with young leaders who are working to transform the San Diego community, alongside ECS.
Honoring Black History Month at ECS
From left to right: Angel Askew, Family Support Tech; Jennifer Anthony, EHS Child Development Specialist; Adrienne Wilkerson, Communications Director; Angela Divinity, Head Start Teacher, Amanda Jackson, Training & HR Specialist, Rhonda Hillard, Staff Professional Development Mgr.; and Lenell Carter, Chief Financial Officer are all smiles underneath the new signage at ECS Headquarters in National City.
SAN DIEGO – February is Black History Month, a time to celebrate, acknowledge, and educate oneself on the impact and presence of the Black community on American history. But this education should not occur in February alone. Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts should be made year-round. That is why, at ECS, DEI initiatives are a priority. So that all employees and clients feel welcomed and celebrated no matter their identity or background.
Lenell Carter, ECS’ chief financial officer (CFO), has been with ECS for just eight weeks and has already had a positive experience. “I know a lot of companies have started making changes… but when I was in for-profit, it was more bottom-line driven… [ECS] is not only [looking at] ‘how much money.’ It’s other things like the social impact, making relationships,” he said. “They walk the walk and talk the talk.”
Carter has even been inspired to pursue this change of mindset on an individual level. “I’m retraining myself to make sure I’m taking the human aspect or social aspect into all accounts when I’m making a decision, instead of ‘bottom-line says we should do X, Y, and Z,’ and that’s what we’re doing,” he said.
Rhonda Hilliard, staff professional development manager at Head Start, who has worked at ECS for 12 years, also expressed gratitude for the focus on inclusion. “I think working with a team who is multiculturally sensitive is very nice,” she said. “I’ve worked at other places where that wasn’t the case. I felt more isolated and didn’t really belong, but here, I do feel I’m equal with the team. It’s a good thing, it’s great being supported and understood.”
Carter agreed and echoed Hilliard’s comparisons to other places of employment. “I was that one different face, and it didn’t bother me. As I said, I actually had great mentors and great access to people that had phenomenal success. And to me, it would have been more comforting to see someone like you. You’ve got to cut that part out of you so that you can fit into those programs. And when you get in a program like [ECS] you don’t have to cut that part out of you. You can let it exist and see somebody like you and just be happy,” Carter said. “Now I’m in a place where I can give that knowledge to a more diverse group, so for me, it’s a win.”
Hilliard and Carter reflected on leadership and the importance of diversity in those spaces specifically. Hilliard expressed, “I was excited to see the organization move forward as far as diversity and inclusion. Until recently, there was a lack of diversity in our management and executive leaders, but now we’re starting to see more, which is exciting,” she said. “It makes me feel good to see someone like me in a higher position.”
That inclusion and diversity on the team affect more than just those within the workplace. It also makes a difference in the broader San Diego community. “I think it’s important when we reach out to the community to have people of color to relate to those people. I think it creates an opportunity for relationships,” Hilliard said.
February has been set aside as Black History Month, but it takes purposeful effort to make that time meaningful. “It’s exciting to see that it’s being done as an organization… To see it actually go out, even out into the community, showing that we’re promoting Black history, I think it’s important,” Hilliard said. “Black history is American history, so it’s important for everyone to learn about it, and if we understand our history, it can help us not make the same mistakes that have happened in the past.”
This month, take the time to explore resources that highlight Black History and the significance of the Black community that is too often overlooked. For more information on ECS’ DEI initiatives, visit https://www.ecscalifornia.org/dei.
Episcopal Community Services Awarded $50,000 Prebys Foundation Grant for Youth Behavioral & Mental Health Initiatives
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Episcopal Community Services Awarded $50,000 Prebys Foundation Grant
for Youth Behavioral & Mental Health Initiatives
San Diego, CA – Jan. 9, 2024 – Episcopal Community Services (ECS), an award-winning nonprofit organization committed to breaking barriers and transforming communities, proudly announces the receipt of a significant $50,000 grant from the Prebys Foundation. This generous contribution, earmarked for initiatives under ECS's Para Las Familias (PLF) program, represents a vote of confidence in the effectiveness and impact of ECS's work in the field of youth behavioral and mental health services.
ECS PLF will continue to change lives with the Presbys Foundation’s generous grant. January 2024.
The Prebys Foundation, a leading philanthropic organization in San Diego County, has recently allocated $30.6 million in grants across 147 organizations, demonstrating its dedication to visual and performing arts, medical research, healthcare, and youth success and financial stability. The substantial grant awarded to ECS aligns with the Foundation's focused efforts and underlines the critical role of mental health in fostering the development and well-being of young people within the community.
“This investment from The Prebys Foundation enables ECS to meet the growing demand for behavioral and mental health support for young children in our community,” said ECS CEO Elizabeth Fitzsimons. “ECS is grateful to the Foundation for recognizing this need and ECS’ role in delivering critical care to children and their caregivers.”
ECS Para Las Familias
Para Las Familias, a dedicated outpatient clinic, offers bilingual behavioral and mental health services to children in the under-resourced communities of the South Bay area. Focusing on the developmental needs of low-income children from birth to 12 years old, PLF plays a crucial role in their wellbeing. The recent grant stands to greatly enhance PLF's ability to extend its services and improve care quality, making a substantial impact on the lives of numerous children within these communities.
About Episcopal Community Services
ECS provides $38 million in comprehensive health and human services across the San Diego region. Through a range of wraparound programs encompassing early childhood education, mental and behavioral health, substance use disorder treatment, and homelessness services, ECS tailors its approach to meet each client’s unique needs. Annually supporting over 7,000 individuals, the organization leverages deep professional expertise and lived experiences to assist clients in realizing their full potential. To learn more about ECS’s transformative impact, please visit https://www.ecscalifornia.org/.
About Prebys Foundation
The Prebys Foundation is the largest independent private foundation in San Diego County, working tirelessly to create an inclusive, equitable, and dynamic future for all San Diegans. In 2023 alone, the foundation awarded 214 grants totaling over $57 Million across various sectors. Visit www.prebysfdn.org/ to learn more.
Media Contact:
Adrienne Wilkerson
ECS Communications Director
awilkerson@ecscalifornia.org. ###
A Transformative Mission in SUD Recovery
Paula, ACCORD SUD Counselor, finds purpose in her career. *December 2023.
SAN DIEGO – Paula is an SUD (substance use disorder) Counselor at ECS’ ACCORD DUI Treatment Program. Although she has worked in the SUD field for 28 years, Paula is no stranger to addiction. She struggled with a substance use disorder for many years. The challenges her clients deal with are often challenges she faced in the past. And it’s her lived experience that makes her such a compassionate counselor.
“I did things that I would have never imagined. Who am I to judge anybody that sits here [at ACCORD]? Cause what I do know is that everybody who sits here is good people. You made a bad choice, right? So, give yourself some grace because God gives us grace all the time. And that’s why I do what I do,” Niemeyer explained.
The way she treats her clients reflects this mindset.
“I don’t ever come to work and tell my people, ‘You need to stop drinking…’ and ‘don’t do that’ cause I had that. I had people pointing a finger at me and telling me what a shame I was all the time. I don’t do that.”
Paula grew up in what she described as an alcoholic and violent family setting, which made it difficult to be trusting and comfortable. This environment was also a factor in her struggle with substance abuse.
“I started using my own mother’s Valium… I found out that when she would hit me, they were just like little slaps, and so I could take it, right? And so, it didn’t matter, so I would steal the Valiums, I would take them, and I knew when I would come home if she beat me, she beat me,” Paula said. “The drug covered up the emotional feeling.”
At 18, Paula left home and met her husband shortly after. She got pregnant and then gave birth to a daughter who passed away at the tender age of only 88 days. This event would be the catalyst that sparked her heroin addiction.
“I needed something that numbed that,” Paula said, pointing to her head, “and numbed this,” pointing to her heart.
Perhaps by God’s design, seven years later to the exact day that her first daughter was born, Paula gave birth to her son. “The whole night, I just watched him – the whole night. I was just so scared,” she said.
Even after the birth of her son, Paula still struggled to break free from addiction. She described the moment everything became clear for her as an “out-of-body experience.”
“I can see myself sitting at this table, literally, like I can see, looking down, I can see the table and myself sitting there. And it was like two movies that went frame by frame,” she explained.
She gestured to one side of her head. “This one here, I could see myself being led back into CIW (California Institution for Women), which is a prison. I could see the tower, the gate,” she said. Then, gesturing to the other side, “This one here, I can see a casket and a man, and to me, it was a funeral. The only person there was the man that was performing the service. And I felt like God was saying ‘Take your pick. Which one do you want, Paula?’ That’s a tough pick, which one do you pick? I didn’t want either one. So, I don’t know how much time went by… I just know when I came back into my body, I said, excuse my French, I said ‘[expletive] this, I can’t do this no more.’ And I called Narcotics Anonymous.”
Paula with her grandchildren. *December 2023.
Today, Paula is 30 years sober, and her son is a Chief in the Navy. Paula also has three grandchildren, whose pictures hang proudly in her office. “Wherever they may go, I will follow,” she said of her family. “That’s what I got in my life.”
Paula cut ties with her parents and siblings, but in losing that family she gained another. “I remember when I got clean, my sponsor asked me to write a list of everything I wanted God to give me. I remember the first thing on there was my family,” Paula said. She found unconditional love in the family she built.
Paula draws from her challenges, experiences, and growth to help teach her clients and extend much-needed empathy to them.
Paula feels love and acceptance from her family. *December 2023.
She stated, “I know everything that I experienced in my life brought me to where I am today, made me who I am today.”
The decision to stay in the SUD field was not always easy for Paula. But her trust in God continually guided her on the right path.
“I remember I was 40 years old sitting at my desk… and it was just like God was talking to me. And I said, ‘Why? Why am I here? Why do you have me in this place?’” Paula said. “And it was like God was talking to me like I’m talking to you right now. He said, ‘Paula, you’re here because you’re supposed to help people. And if you help one person, you’ve done your job.’”
Paula recalled that even when she left the SUD field to pursue a different job, “God would say, ‘Oh, no Paula, I need you over here.’ And he’d take me, and he’d drop me back off somewhere else.” Now, she is certain that SUD counseling is her true calling.
In 2021, Paula joined the team at ECS ACCORD and said she has felt very welcomed and supported in the organization. She continues to feel passionate about her work, even after so many years. She described seeing lives change through the program as her “emotional paycheck.”
“When a person comes into residential treatment, they come in like a very dried up, withered weed,” Paula said. “They come in, you nurture them, you give them support, you water them, and then when they leave, they turn out to be this very beautiful bouquet as they exit the door. That’s what I like to see.”
Paula’s dedication and knowledge helps shape lives every day, and as long as she follows God’s plan, she won’t be retiring any time soon.
ECS ACCORD is a state licensed DUI Treatment Program supporting individuals with DUI offenses, offering educational classes on substance abuse effects, and group and individual counseling sessions in a confidential environment. Its goal is to reduce DUI incidents and mitigate their impact on individuals, families, and the community. Approximately 95% of clients state their experience at ACCORD has positively impacted their lives.
*Caption dates may not be exact.