Getting a Head Start on the Future

Oscar Gomez, ECS Board of Directors President, is a lifelong Head Start advocate. Although, his dedication to early childhood education started long before his professional career, beginning when he was a Head Start student himself.

ECS Head Start supports both children and families with wraparound services. October 2024.

In the late 80s, Oscar’s mother struggled to find childcare during the day. Her four kids were all one year apart — too young to take care of each other and of themselves. Even 40 years ago, childcare was expensive and inaccessible for a migrant field worker in California’s Central Valley. She knew she needed to find a solution. That’s when she learned about Head Start.

Offered at no cost, the local Head Start program allowed Oscar’s mother to use her income toward the family’s other needs, rather than stressing about the high price of daycare. “We were a family with little means,” Oscar shared. “Thanks to programs like Head Start... we had a good start going into kindergarten and elementary school.”

Oscar and his siblings all benefited from Head Start services. Now, they work in education or family services. 1989*

Enrollment led to many benefits for his family. Oscar and his siblings learned how to speak English at Head Start, a direct effect of the program's encouragement of bilingualism. His mother was also inspired to pursue a career in education due to Head Start's standard of parent involvement. Since then, she’s worked at various Head Start centers in California.

As for Oscar? He served in the Marine Corps for 11 years and found his true motivation. “I knew that after my service, I wanted to continue to serve my community," he said. “I knew that I wanted to help people.” After years of social work and family services, he reconnected with Head Start three decades later. While directing local parenting education programs, he realized that the most foundational impacts were made in the first five years. “The thing we need to be doing is prevention instead of intervention down the road,” he posited.

Oscar has served on the ECS Board of Directors since 2022, where his experience as a Head Start alum provides a unique perspective. May 2024.

His regard for early learning aligns with ECS Head Start programs, which meet the educational, emotional, social, health, and nutritional needs of children ages 0-5 and their families. “Head Start is a wraparound; we embrace the entire family,” Oscar said. “We want to help the social mobility of our families and make it where they have an opportunity because they know that their kiddos are getting high-quality care.” This dedication supports the crucial groundwork needed for each child to thrive as they grow and move through the world, like Oscar and his family.

Oscar used the strong foundation built by Head Start to dedicate himself to a lifetime of education and service. He holds two master’s degrees — one in social work and another in public administration. Currently, he is the Chief Operations Officer of Ronald McDonald House Charities San Diego where he continues his work in family services. Oscar has also served on the ECS Board of Directors since 2022 and was recently appointed Board President, guiding the organization from its 99th anniversary to its centennial celebration in 2027.

Oscar will serve as Board President and guide ECS through its centennial in 2027. July 2026.

Oscar offers a unique perspective as a Head Start alumnus, saying: “Head Start’s been a program that’s done a lot for my family, and this is my way of giving back... to something that means so much to me and that gave my family a way to get started in life.”

October is Head Start Awareness Month. Oscar's enrollment in Head Start changed his future for the better and ECS believes this outcome is possible for all Head Start students. Learn more about ECS Head Start and enroll today.

*Caption date may not be exact

Exploring ECS’ Future at the 2025 Board of Directors Retreat

National City, CA – Tuesday’s gray skies couldn’t dampen the optimistic energy inside St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church, where ECS’ Board of Directors gathered for their annual retreat alongside committee members, ECS leadership, and staff.  

The 2025-2026 ECS Board of Directors and ECS staff and leadership. October 2025.

The retreat provided time to strengthen connections, celebrate the past year’s successes, and chart the course ahead.  

The retreat began with reflection on ECS’ core values — belonging, respect, exploration, empowerment, and stewardship — as attendees shared which values resonated with them the most and why.  

New board member Chris Connolly attended his first retreat and met many of his fellow directors and ECS leadership in-person. He expressed his excitement to build relationships and learn more about ECS. He joined the board with hopes of making a difference in the community. “Bishop Susan, in her opening prayer today, talked about transforming communities, and Elizabeth talked about how the new El Cajon facility is going to help transform that community,” Connolly said. “I'm really excited about this notion of transforming communities, which would give me a lot of purpose, if I could come to ECS board meetings to do that. Both this year, and years ahead, that'd be really exciting.” 

Presentations from CEO Elizabeth Wilberg, Board President La Monica Everett-Haynes, Board Chair Bishop Susan B. Snook, and CFO Darren Tune offered an overview of the 2024-2025 fiscal year and reviewed organizational goals for 2025-2026. Later in the afternoon, attendees separated into groups and constructed ideas for continued growth and impact. 

Attendees discuss strategies for the new fiscal year. October 2025.

Board President La Monica Everett-Haynes welcomes attendees to the retreat. October 2025.

Idara Ogunsaju, a member of the newly formed People & Culture Committee, shared how inspired she felt to meet other individuals driven to support ECS’ work. “It's very easy to get behind the work that's being done, from Head Start children to helping with the issues of homelessness in San Diego,” Ogunsaju said. “You see the work that's happening, you see how they care, and how they're delivering on the mission, vision, and values of the organization.” 

Ogunsaju cited Elizabeth Wilberg’s leadership and ECS’ value of exploration as the things that inspired her to support the organization. “That exploration, the willingness, the openness to change, is very powerful and positions ECS well for today and for the future,” she said. 

Head Start staff takes attendees on a tour of the school site. October 2025.

St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church is also the site for one of ECS’ Head Start centers. Attendees toured the facility, visited active classrooms, and learned about the wide variety of wraparound services Head Start offers, including Home Visits. ECS Head Start not only supports academic growth, but the whole family unit, prioritizing the health and development of their students.   

The annual board retreat reflects ECS’ culture of stewardship and care. Through the dedicated work of its directors, committee members, and leadership, ECS continues to grow stronger each year, laying the foundation for the next century of service. Thank you to our board of directors and committee members for offering your time and talents to ECS. 

To learn more about the leadership that guides ECS visit https://www.ecscalifornia.org/leadership. 

St. Paul's Cathedral ECS Forum

ECS board members share their knowledge and experience of ECS. September 2024. 

Earlier today, ECS hosted an engaging forum at St. Paul's Episcopal Cathedral, bringing together board members, staff, and parishioners to explore the deep connection between ECS and the Cathedral community. The panel discussion provided a unique opportunity to delve into the intersection of faith, service, and advocacy, showcasing how our shared mission makes a meaningful impact in the community and how to support ECS in its ongoing work.

To learn more about how YOU can join us in breaking barriers and transforming communities, please visit www.ecscalifornia.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.