Money to Improve the Social and Emotional Well-Being in Escondido Amid COVID Recovery

Escondido CA— Escondido Community Foundation (ECF), an affiliate of The San Diego Foundation, today awarded $228,000 to nine Escondido-based organizations to improve the social and emotional wellbeing in Escondido by addressing either social isolation, anxiety, depression, suicide, abuse and/or provide specific support for young people in the community.
“The Escondido community has a long road of recovery from the effects of the ongoing pandemic. Our goal with this grant funding is to invest in our friends and neighbors from the inside out,” said Kenneth Lounsbery, Board Chair of The Escondido Community Foundation. “These nine organizations and their programming will improve the social and emotional well being of our Escondido community, especially those who are most at-risk, to receive the support and care they need in this time.”
With the COVID-19 health and economic crisis negatively impacting communities in the region, many people are recuperating from the hard-hitting isolation and socio-economic challenges from the past year. The 2021/2022 grant cycle awarded funding to nine local organizations aiming to improve the social and emotional well-being of those who live, work and play in Escondido.
ABOUT THE 2021 GRANTEES:

• Alabaster Jar Project – Alabaster Jar Project’s Resource Center
  The $28,000 grant will support the Alabaster Jar Project’s Resource Center to continue serving and providing survivors of human trafficking with part-time employment opportunities, housing, therapy, peer-support and community resources.
• Solutions for Change – Case Management and Counseling
  The $18,000 grant will help families affected by homelessness, addiction, generational poverty, trauma and domestic abuse to secure full-time employment opportunities, as well as stable housing, family reunification and emotional and mental support.
• Outside the Lens – Leadership Through The Lens

The $23,000 grant will continue to support the organization’s partnership with the San Pasqual Academy to provide youth with internship and 1-on-1 industry mentorship opportunities, while helping close the gap of quality-arts integrated education to students.

• Center for Community Solutions – Shelter Services: Supporting Escondido’s Emergency and Recovery Domestic Violence Shelters

The $30,000 grant will help support the organization’s capacity to meet current needs through a full spectrum of shelter services and related hotline crisis assistance to current victims and survivors of domestic violence.

• Community HousingWorks – Equitable Access to Academic Supports for Escondido Youth

The $18,000 grant will help improve children learning development programs and support the organization’s apartment communities to create a safer place to learn, grow and thrive just footsteps away from their homes.

• North County Lifeline – HERE Now – Escondido Part-Time Parent Partner

The $15,000 grant will help support the organization’s mission to identify, address and prevent youth suicide by providing mental health programs and other community resources to foster safer school environments.

• Palomar Family Counseling – The Family Resilience Project

The $33,000 grant will help extend treatment, assistance and promote long-term social and emotional support to 45 women and their children who have been exposed to or at risk of experiencing domestic violence.

• HealthRIGHT 360 – NCSH Serenity Village Children’s Playground

The $33,000 grant will help develop the construction of a new, state-of-the-art children’s playground to provide residents of Serenity Villages a safe, organized play area to enjoy fresh air and the outdoors — all essential facets for emotional, social and cognitive development.

• Tariq Khamisa Foundation – Peace Educator Mentoring

The $30,000 grant will enhance the program by providing middle-school youth with mentoring services and social-emotional learning opportunities to inspire middle-school youth with the principles of accountability, compassion, forgiveness and peacemaking.
Through 15 years of grantmaking, ECF has addressed a wide range of community issues including health and human services; Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education; access to the outdoors; advancing arts & culture and more. ECF was founded to provide community members with a vehicle to increase effective and responsible philanthropy in Escondido. Since 2006, ECF has granted more than $2.7 million and generated $5.4 million in impact to strengthen the community.
To become a member, contact Trudy Armstrong at trudy@sdfoundation.org.