Providing high-quality mental health and family support services to under-served communities is at the core of ECDA’s mission. Everything we do is tightly focused on accomplishing that mission. Throughout our 44 years of service, ECDA has served more than 110,000 individuals, empowering the lives of children, families, and individuals for a better tomorrow
Our involvement in the community is also crucial. ECDA knows the importance of supporting our community and clients, especially in challenging times like today. It is why hosting community events to provide support to our clients is important. On August 27, 2021, El Centro de Amistad hosted their annual back-to-school distribution event to their nominated families. This event was expected to be the most challenging back-to-school distribution event in the agency’s history. “With so many clients looking to ECDA for assistance since the COVID-19 crisis, we expected an increase in the number of families participating in the event,” says Flaviola Garcia, Community Relations Coordinator. “School supplies also have a positive impact on students’ ability to learn. It has been proven that when students have their own school supplies, their grades and classroom behavior improves, and they become more excited about school and learning; we hope we can provide our clients with the necessary tools to alleviate some anxiety and stress this new school year,” says Ms. Garcia
With the support of their sponsors, Supervisor Sheila Kuehl’s office, the Blessed Foundation, Big Sunday, and the business and tax consultants at SLTG, along with our community, we provided over 200 backpacks with school supplies to nominated families. These nominated families were assessed for needs and were provided with a free backpack with school supplies inside for each school-aged child in the household.
Our Case managers and ECDA team handed out the supplies to registered clients held in our parking lot and offered free books to parents to encourage literacy in the household. “My family and I are very grateful to receive these school supplies for my children. It has been a tough economic year for my family, and having to worry about one less thing to provide to my kids is a blessing,” ECDA client Mrs. Hernandez says.
