Making A Difference
MI ESCUELITA
E
very year, preschool-age children who
have been impacted by domestic violence
or abuse are waitlisted for a school that
specializes in helping them heal from
trauma. But beginning next year, more
children will have the opportunity to begin to thrive
thanks to a $1.7 million grant to expand classrooms at
the therapeutic preschool in Chula Vista.
Mi Escuelita, one of many programs offered by South
Bay Community Services (SBCS), was recently
awarded one of four grants totaling $13.8 million
through the Guy C. Clum Fund at The San Diego
Foundation dedicated to strengthening early childhood
education opportunities as well as bettering the overall
48 GBSAN.COM | NOVEMBER 2018
health of the region. The expansion will decrease the
school’s annual waitlist, allowing SBCS to serve nearly
100 children and their families at one time, having a
profound effect on their future.
Children exposed to trauma and not treated for it puts
them at a greater risk than their peers for getting into
trouble with law enforcement, doing drugs, and even
more susceptible to human trafficking. It also delays
their development and adversely affects their mental
health. “If we don’t address the trauma early on we are
going to deal with it at some other point in their life,”
said Pam Wright, the clinical director at South Bay
Community Services.