ECS Sundays at St. Dunstan's & St. Paul's

Throughout the month, ECS has organized a series of ECS Sunday gatherings at St. Dunstan's Episcopal Church and St Paul's Episcopal Cathedral.

Following the services, over 200 Welcome Home Kits were assembled for our Central East Regional Recovery Center (CERRC) clients transitioning from homelessness to supportive recovery residences.

Thank you to our Partners in Ministry for participating in this impactful initiative; we look forward to continuing ECS Sundays throughout the Spring.

A special thank you to Slave 2 Nothing Foundation for funding the Welcome Home Kit supplies.

Episcopal Relief & Development Partners With Episcopal Community Services in Response to Flooding in San Diego

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Episcopal Relief & Development Partners with Episcopal Community Services in Response to Flooding in San Diego

An ECS Head Start family receives supplies through Episcopal Relief & Development grant. February 2024.

San Diego, CA – March 7, 2024 – Episcopal Relief & Development is partnering with Episcopal Community Services (ECS) in San Diego, California to provide emergency relief and recovery support to nine families affected by the heavy rains and damaging flooding in January.

The heavy rains fell quickly, filling the streets and freeways with water, and many people weren’t expecting it as that amount of rain was out of the norm. The water overwhelmed the city’s stormwater system, and emergency services needed to rescue hundreds of people from their homes in low-lying areas. Many under-resourced families lost their belongings and were displaced after sustaining damage to their homes. 

In partnership with Episcopal Relief & Development, ECS is working through its network of bilingual and bicultural children’s programs to support families as they repair their homes and replace destroyed or damaged items. Parents and caregivers will be provided with items including air mattresses, clothing, hygiene products, diapers and furniture.

In reflecting on the immediate action taken to support these families, Timothy Whipple, ECS Director of Development, emphasizes the heart of their mission. “ECS has over 90 years of experience in meeting urgent needs of our community, from addressing homelessness and mental health issues to providing early childhood education and substance use disorder treatment,” Whipple shares. “Our gratitude extends to the Rt. Rev. Dr. Susan Brown Snook, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of San Diego, for connecting us to Episcopal Relief & Development, which has been instrumental in aiding our Para Las Familias and Head Start families impacted by the floods. It’s heartwarming to see the power of collaboration in addressing critical community needs.”

As communities nationwide confront the escalating challenges of climate-induced flooding, exacerbated by infrastructure vulnerabilities, Episcopal Relief & Development is at the forefront of providing support. Such events have a greater impact on people experiencing poverty, significantly complicating their recovery efforts.

“Our buildings, roads, and bridges weren’t designed for big weather events like the ones we are seeing as climate change becomes more severe,” said Lura Steele, Program Officer, Episcopal Relief & Development, adding, “Unfortunately, people made vulnerable by their status in our society are affected the most, and so we are pouring our resources into localized partnerships like this one with ECS to help people who lack financial or social assets to start over again.” 

For over 80 years, Episcopal Relief & Development has worked with an extensive network of faith and community partners to advance lasting change in communities affected by injustice, poverty, disaster, and climate change. Inspired by our faith, we reach over three million people each year by focusing on four interconnected priorities: nurturing the potential of caregivers and young children, reducing violence against women and girls, strengthening communities’ resilience to climate change and facilitating humanitarian response to disasters. Together with our partners, we leverage what’s working well to drive impact, learning, and sustainability. Together, we create lasting change. Join us: episcopalrelief.org.

Strengthening Families with PLF

Hezekiah’s family poses for a picture at an ice rink. *February 2024.

SAN DIEGO – When a person or family comes to ECS for help, the goal is not to give them a band-aid and send them on their way but to provide them with resources and support that will last them a lifetime. Hezekiah, a former Para Las Familias (PLF) parent and current ECS board member, went through therapy at PLF with his two children, and although the family graduated from the program about three years ago, they can still see the impact in their lives today.  

Hezekiah has shared his family’s journey with the ECS community in the past, explaining how he went through a divorce and how that unexpected change, along with the COVID-19 pandemic, created extreme challenges for his children. 

“Our family was torn apart by that divorce,” Hezekiah said. “There was this kind of seismic shift that brought about immense heartache and turmoil into everyone’s life.” When presented with this challenge, he was unsure who to turn to or how to ask for help. “From one day to the next, you’re now a single parent,” Hezekiah said as he recalled how hard it was to watch his children process this change. The obstacles in front of them seemed too big to take on. “The consistency of the instability was replaced with confusion, anger, and an overwhelming sense of loss,” Hezekiah said. 

Hezekiah’s parents fostered several children during his childhood, so he was familiar with early childhood mental health services and the importance of forming a secure attachment. He had also heard of PLF years earlier when they were doing outreach. The situation he found himself in was challenging, but PLF was there when he and his family needed someone to turn to.  

Hezekiah’s daughter enjoys arts and crafts at school. *February 2024.

“Together with Para Las Familias, we began to rebuild these broken bonds and started to nurture this secure attachment that paved the way for feeling and a reversal of a lot of that trauma we had all endured,” Hezekiah said.  

Both of Hezekiah’s children benefited greatly from the services at PLF. His daughter used to have emotional outbursts and often isolated herself. Hezekiah shared how she used to struggle with transitions, making daily tasks like getting ready for school and entering her classroom each morning hard. “She refused it. She would yell and say, ‘I’m not going to go to school.’ And on the first day of kindergarten, she ran off, tore her clothes off, tried to hop the fence that same day and we had principals, teachers, everybody just running around. It looked like something out of a cartoon,” he said. “It was very challenging.” Now, with the work learned at PLF, her transition time to the classroom only takes a minute. His daughter can express herself, communicate her feelings, and has become what Hezekiah called a “model student” in the classroom.

His son deals with anxiety and the urge to achieve constant perfection. As a result, he used to become very upset at losing, but now he knows it doesn’t matter. Hezekiah recalled how, while watching a movie in which a character lost, his son said, “‘It doesn’t matter. What matters is that you helped people.’” These lessons that PLF has helped children learn at a young age are crucial for future relationships. 

Hezekiah’s son smiles while exploring the outdoors. *February 2024.

Hezekiah spoke about the importance of viewing disabilities and mental health with inclusivity and understanding, practices that PLF teaches. “Instead of trying to get those individuals with those disabilities to conform with our society, we need to be able to be more accommodating with them,” Hezekiah said. “ECS provided those lifetime tools to help him [his son] and help those individuals around him better support him.”  

During his experience with PLF, Hezekiah and his children developed a secure attachment style, which has guided their relationship in the years since therapy. When someone told the family to leave a place of worship because his daughter was crying, Hezekiah said “You know what, we’re going to wait here until she’s ready”... I think something changed in that moment… I think she knew that I was going to be with her through thick and thin, and I wasn’t going to take anybody else’s side.”  

Having patience, respecting dignity, and maintaining a healthy structure are key PLF lessons that Hezekiah applies daily. “I’ve never once had to raise my voice… they know that it’s coming out of a place of love,” he said. 

PLF Program Manager Leslie Manriquez-Jimenez and Transitional Age Youth (TAY) Program Manager Karla Alonso worked with the Hezekiah family as their therapists while they were going through the program. Regarding Hezekiah’s PLF parenting journey, Manriquez-Jimenez commented that he “really took the program, took the tools he learned here and went with it, and we can see the impact it had for years to come.” PLF aims to equip families with the tools to overcome obstacles not only in their present lives, but years into their futures. The therapists help parents develop a sense of confidence in themselves “and what that does is they test what works with their children and their relationship with that child so, whenever some new behavior comes up, they are able to show up for their kids and trust their intuition. They’re not trusting interventions; they're trusting their intuition and that’s what we’re helping them develop here,” Manriquez-Jimenez said. 

Hezekiah’s children smile together for a photo. *February 2024.

Since becoming the Program Manager at PLF, Manriquez-Jimenez has seen PLF nearly double the number of families they work with and expand to help children ages 6-12. She said, “We see that ripple effect going family-wide and community-wide. The more families we get to work with the more we get to hear them pass down what we teach them.” 

In 2022 Hezekiah became a member of the ECS Board of Directors. When asked to take on the role, Hezekiah responded “Whatever you need, I am forever indebted.” He expressed how glad he is to see the expansion of PLF’s program reach a larger age range of children. He enjoys the opportunities the board gives him to spread the word on what ECS offers and the impact of its programs, especially as a former client.  

“It’s okay to ask for help. We’re not alone in this journey. There are resources and people to support you and your kids through these difficult times that you’re going through,” Hezekiah said. “At Para Las Familias you’re not a number. You’re family. I’m quite positive of that. That embrace, and that desire for all of us to grow is there.” 

Para Las Familias (PLF) is an outpatient behavioral and mental health clinic that provides a range of bilingual early childhood mental health services to low-income children 0 to 12 years old. Therapists at PLF provide screening, assessment, family and group therapy, school observation, teacher/provider consultation, and parenting groups. In addition, PLF also provides adult mental health services and weekly parenting groups. For more information visit https://www.ecscalifornia.org/para-las-familias.  

*Caption dates may not be exact.

ECS Connects with San Diego Women's Foundation

SAN DIEGO – The San Diego Women’s Foundation (SDWF) invited ECS to their Neighborhood Connection event to learn about ECS’ Head Start program and connect with women of the San Diego community.

Head Start Child Development Specialist Lina Benitez shares ECS Head Start’s mission with SDWF. February 2024.

During the event, Head Start’s Child Development Specialist, Lina Benitez, shared the work Head Start does with SDWF members. “Having the opportunity to be able to share what our program does in our community, it’s big,” Benitez said. “We want to get support out there for all the families that need it.”

The event also gave her a unique chance to connect with other women who value community philanthropy. “Being a part of this event at the San Diego Women’s Foundation has been very inspiring, meeting these wonderful women,” Benitez said.

One connection of the evening was extra special for Head Start. SDWF member and Bayside Community Center’s Executive Director Kim Heinle shared that she graduated from a Head Start program in New York. The program remains meaningful to her today. “It literally just gave us the foundation to start a new life,” Heinle said.

Head Start supported Heinle and her family through its wraparound services, from conducting parent check-ins to teaching basic skills such as brushing teeth. “It’s not just the childcare, it’s not just the education, but it was the check-ins with my mom, the home visits. My mom still talks about Miss Peggy, who came to our home… just to check how things were going,” Heinle said. “That’s the type of care that Head Start is.”

ECS was honored to participate in SDWF’s Neighborhood Connection event and looks forward to pursuing change in the San Diego region alongside SDWF.

To learn more about ECS Head Start, visit https://www.ecscalifornia.org/head-start-and-early-head-start.