Throughout the years, East Coast Migrant Head Start Project has employed hundreds of former farmworker families. Positions varying from bus drivers to center directors. We are proud of being part of their success at building a career. In Newton Grove, Olivia Antonio has been working as a teacher for the past two years. She has a remarkable story to share with us. Olivia, what can you tell us about your childhood growing up? Each year, our family would migrate from Florida to

Maria Rodriguez loves the work that she does as the Governance Assistant at East Coast Migrant Head Start Project in the Florida Direct Services – West Regional Office. Read our interview with Maria in celebration of National Farmworker Awareness Week 2021. What significance does National Farmworker Awareness Week have to you? The responsibility to share information from farmworkers. I was a farmworker for almost 10 years and feel honored to share this important part of my li

Javier Gonzalez joined ECMHSP motivated by his desire to serve farmworker families in the most impactful way. As a former migrant farmworker, he knows how important education is in promoting academic and life success. Read our interview with him in celebration of National Farmworker Awareness Week 2021. What significance does National Farmworker Awareness Week have to you? National Farmworker Awareness week signifies an overdue recognition of the hard plight and hard work tha

Building on last year’s use of technology to continue advancing our mission of preparing our children for public school, East Coast Migrant Head Start Project continues to innovate. Today, we are proud to unveil our newly redesigned website, which provides a more user-friendly experience and features updated information about our organization. Our community will look at our website as a destination point for early childhood educational resources, Head Start success stories, a

Nadia Kaze obtained a bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education at the University of Mount Olive, in 2013. She’s been working in early childhood education since 2009 and is currently ECMHSP’s Quality Assurance Program Monitor. Please read this special phone interview with her in honor of Black History Month. Where did you grow up? I was born and raised in Burundi, a very small country in East Africa. My native language is Kirundi, and French is the country’s official lan

Michael Edmonds is a 2005 College of Charleston graduate. Upon receiving his undergraduate degree, he joined the United States Peace Corps. Michael started his career with East Coast Migrant Head Start Project during the 2012-2013 season. Please read about our recent phone interview with him. Michael, can you share information about your background? I grew up in Columbia, South Carolina. Following college, I served in Guatemala as a United States Peace Corps Volunteer. I work

Por motivo del Mes de la Herencia Hispana, conversamos con Carlos Klinger, Miembro de la Mesa Directiva de East Coast Migrant Head Start Project. Carlos Klinger nació en Arica, Chile. Como muchos, llegó a Estados Unidos con la meta de cumplir el sueño americano. Después de muchos años de sacrificio, formó una empresa de contabilidad que en la actualidad es muy exitosa. El acceso a la educación siempre fue una gran preocupación para Carlos, especialmente en los primeros años y

Written by Consuellis Hawkins-Crudup, ECMHSP School Readiness Manager. ECMHSP’s presentation at the 2020 NMSHSA National Conference, which took place March 6-11, in San Diego, California. On October 18, 2019, I was invited to present the ECMHSP Journey to Implementing the Planned Language Approach (PLA) model at the OHS School Readiness Institute in Washington, DC, because we were the only grantee in the country consistently using the model.  PLA provides Head Start programs

Written by Sandra Hernandez, ECMHSP Family Community Partnership Specialist for the Alabama Region.  She has a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a concentration in International Business.  Sandra has eight years’ experience working for the migrant community at the Mexican Consulate and at a community health center. Left to right: Tami Culver, Deputy Commissioner of the Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries, Sandra Hernandez, ECMHSP Family Communit

We recently talked to Patti Kingery, North Carolina Head Start Administrator, about the challenges and opportunities in anticipation of our center openings in three weeks. How have the last few weeks been in preparation for the start of remote services in North Carolina? Over the past two weeks, the North Carolina team, together with support from colleagues in Alabama and Florida, were able to complete applications for more than 100 migrant and seasonal farmworker children. 

For more than one month now, we have had to adjust to a new way of working.  This temporary “new normal” has brought many challenges.  But it also has provided us with wonderful opportunities to connect with our families in new and innovative ways. One of our new innovations was inspired by our Chief Executive Officer, Maria Garza.  She envisioned an ECMHSP Learning Channel on YouTube.  Her vision was brought to life by Christine Alvarado, Consuellis Hawkins-Crudup and educat

On March 17th, ECMHSP transitioned from in-center services to farmworker families in Florida to remote educational and nutritional support.  This transition has required a tremendous effort on behalf of the entire project.  One leader, among many, who has played a key role in navigating these uncharted waters is Christine Alvarado, our Chief Innovation Officer.  Please read our recent phone interview with her. How did the senior management team at ECMHSP make the difficult de

In 1968, Dr. José Villa was a freshman at the University of Oregon.  There, he helped start a student group called the Chicano Student Union that would forever change his life. Why was this group needed? We were looking at increasing the enrollment of Mexican-American students at the University of Oregon.  Out of almost 15,000 students, we maybe had 15 to 20 Mexican-American students.  We went through the University’s Student Association to request funding for an office.  Thr

Irma and her husband are picking oranges in Wimauma, Florida. Picture was taken in 2011, while Irma is six months pregnant with her son Eduardo. Farmworker, Irma Mendoza, is an important leader at East Coast Migrant Head Start Project.  She serves as the President of our Policy Council and as a member of our Board of Directors.  We recently had the opportunity to learn more about her journey to the United States, her experience as a farmworker, and her hopes for the future. C

On February 18, Nilda Soto was elected to serve on East Coast Migrant Head Start Project’s Board of Directors. She has more than 30 years of experience working with our migrant farmworker community.  Nilda is currently the Manager for the Farmworker Career Development Program with Polk County, Florida School District.  The goal is to improve the lifestyle for migrant and seasonal farmworkers.  Please keep reading to learn why she’s such a passionate advocate for our families.

An Interview with ECMHSP’s New CEO, Maria Garza Left to right: Sandra Carton, Regional Manager, Migrant & Seasonal Head Start Region XII – Office of Head Start, Dr. Villa, CEO Emeritus, and Maria Garza, new ECMHSP Chief Executive Officer. Maria Garza has recently joined East Coast Migrant Head Start Project as its Chief Executive Officer. Garza, a longtime farmworker advocate and experienced government and non-profit leader, assumed day-to-day leadership of the organization o

Tabitha Shelton has been East Coast Migrant Head Start Project’s Disability Services & Mental Health Manager since February 2018.  She earned a Master’s in Special Education at Arkansas Tech University. Last week, our Raleigh Headquarters hosted a weeklong training where Content Area Managers train Regional Level Specialists on service delivery manual updates and changes.  The participants included: Head Start Administrators, Director of Enrollment, Directors of Program Opera

Sofia Baucom is the Family Services Manager at East Coast Migrant Head Start Project, a migrant and seasonal Head Start grantee committed to excellence in serving children and families in their areas of need from a family-centered approach.  Sofia’s been with ECMHSP since 2002 and started her role as Family Services Manager in 2006.  She has extensive experience working with special populations across the Americas. The foundation of our program services are the parents and gu

Written by Julio Garcia, the Health & Disabilities Administrator for PathStone Corporation, our delegate agency serving families in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.  He previously held the role of Health & Disabilities Coordinator for five years.  Julio is currently taking Human Anatomy and Microbiology classes while working to become a registered nurse. I am fortunate enough to write that this season we have seen little in the way of health concerns.  The children that migrated

Participants included: Disability Services & Mental Health Manager, Curriculum Program Development Specialist, Early Childhood Education Coaches, Director of Human Resources, Benefits Manager, Director of Program Operations East, North Carolina Direct Services Head Start Administrator, Assistant Head Start Administrator, Early Childhood Education Specialist, Curriculum Coordinator, Family Services Specialist and (8) Center Directors from all North Carolina Direct Services’ ce