Children learn and play in a safe environment at the Jennings Early Head Start Center. Yesterday, The Huffington Post published its video story on the ECMHSP Jennings Center in Florida.  It features farmworker, Vianey Lopez, who serves as the President of the center’s Parent Committee.  ECMHSP owes a debt of gratitude to Vianey for sharing her incredible story.  It is truly amazing advocacy and a shining example of the parent leadership at ECMHSP! ECMHSP dedicated staff work

Maria Rodriguez is from Reynosa, a border city in the northern part of Tamaulipas, Mexico.  She loves the work that she does as the Governance Assistant at East Coast Migrant Head Start Project in the Florida Direct Services – West Region Administrative Offices in Bartow, FL – and it shows! But Maria hasn’t had an easy life.  Prior to working for ECMHSP, she was a migrant farmworker for nine years.  Between March and September, she harvested tomatoes, watermelon, pumpkins, an

Ramona De Loera never had an easy life.  She is one of ten children and from the age of eight, her parents brought her to the fields where she helped with the work however she could. As she grew older, balancing her school work with farm work became more and more difficult.  Ramona failed the ninth grade because her parents pulled her from school for weeks at a time to help the family in the fields.  By the time she reached senior year of high school, she knew she wouldn’t be

One such dedicated parent is Gloria Castillo, who has been an ECMHSP parent for five seasons.  She was born in Queretaro, Mexico, and has lived in the United States since 2005.  Gloria has almost 10 years of experience working in the fields.  She’s proud to say that three of her four kids have had the opportunity to attend the ECMHSP Faison Center in North Carolina. Gloria visits the ECMHSP Faison Center and meets Dr. Bergeron, Director of the Office of Head Start. When we as

Effective governance is an essential part of any successful Head Start program.  East Coast Migrant Head Start Project is proud of the strong partnership we have with our Board of Directors and Policy Council!  Their great leadership and unwavering dedication to the mission allows us to provide comprehensive, high-quality early childhood education and Head Start services to farmworker families. Each year, the ECMHSP Board of Directors and Policy Council meet to fulfill their

Migrant farmworker Meiby Mora Soto is both a leader and a Dreamer at East Coast Migrant Head Start Project.  The 29-year-old mother of one has served as the president of ECMHSP’s Policy Council since her election to office by her peers in August 2017. Meiby Mora attends the 2017 National Migrant and Seasonal Head Start Association Public Policy Forum and Advocacy Day in Washington, D.C. Ms. Mora Soto was brought to the United States of America from Mexico at the age of 14 in

John Menditto, ECMHSP General Counsel, thanks the parents that attended the conference during a plenary session. The National Migrant & Seasonal Head Start Association (NMSHSA) held its Annual National Conference in Costa Mesa, CA, from March 2 through March 6. A number of our dedicated employees travelled to the conference to make presentations on best practices we have implemented. Sofia Baucom and Consuellis Hawkins-Crudup, for example, presented a session titled, Planning

Photo of Norma Flores López, Governance and Collaboration/Development Manager at ECMHSP. In June of 2015, East Coast Migrant Head Start Project lured Norma Flores López away from another wonderful non-profit serving farmworkers, the Association of Farmworker Opportunity Programs in Washington, DC. We brought Norma to ECMHSP so she may work on a number of important priorities here: partnering with Maria Rodriguez and Maria Hernandez in supporting the work of the ECMHSP Policy

ECMHSP welcomed a new Policy Council in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the birthplace of America. During the week of August 13 through August 18, parents representing all of the ECMHSP Migrant and Seasonal Head Start programs gathered for the annual orientation, the election of the new Policy Council Executive Committee and the Policy Council meeting. The week began with a meeting of the outgoing Policy Council Executive Committee on Sunday afternoon, at which the elected parent

About 15 years ago, Priscilla Garza, Cheyla Moranchel, Armando Cendejas, and Juan Rangel were young children enrolled in the Migrant and Seasonal Head Start program. Priscilla’s MSHS experience was in Texas and Maryland, in programs operated by Teaching and Mentoring Communities and East Coast Migrant Head Start Project. Cheyla’s was in Oregon in a MSHS program operated by the Oregon Child Development Coalition, while Armando and Juan both attended ECMHSP’s MSHS center in For

Debbie and Takila at the Newton Grove community lunch. Debbie Youhouse and Takila Newkirk are two of the unsung heroes of the Migrant and Seasonal Head Start (MSHS) program. Debbie works as a Program Specialist with the Office of Head Start, where she is responsible for overseeing the program services of eight MSHS grantees, including East Coast Migrant Head Start Project. Takila works as a Grants Specialist with the Office of Head Start, where she is responsible for managing

ECMHSP is excited to announce the release of the 2016 Annual Report. The report showcases the great success ECMHSP experienced in providing comprehensive and high-quality services to farmworker families along the East Coast. Some of the highlights from this year’s report include: An overview of our indigenous language curriculum with parental involvement A red carpet rollout of a documentary featuring a ECMHSP family A parent’s effort to bring her congressman to her Head Star

Photo of Chavez, founder of UFW and civil rights leader. César E. Chávez is the late founder and president of the United Farm Workers of America. He was born on a small farm near Yuma, Arizona, on March 31, 1927, and began working in the fields at the age of 10. In 1942, Chavez quit school in the seventh grade. Despite his hardships and lack of education, he went on to create a movement in support of farmworker rights and dignity. Silvia Rodarte, the ECMHSP Policy Council Vic

The National Migrant & Seasonal Head Start Association (NMSHSA) held its Annual National Conference in Costa Mesa, CA, from March 5 through March 9. A number of our dedicated employees travelled to the conference to learn about the changes to the Head Start Performance Standards, which were rolled out last summer. It was a great opportunity to hear about implementation strategies and the importance of being outcomes-driven in our execution. Parents from Migrant and Seasonal H

ECMHSP Alumnus Misael visits our Head Start center in Virginia. This morning, NBC News published the story, “‘Life-Changing’: Head Start Gives Latino Migrant Children Early Education,” which featured ECMHSP alumnus Misael Rangel. Misael attended the Fort Pierce (Florida) Migrant and Seasonal Head Start center as a young child, and has since been a great ambassador of ECMHSP’s Head Start programs.  Misael was one of the four participants selected for this year’s National Migra

Maria was one of the first farmworkers to apply for DACA, which would allow her to travel outside of the U.S. with Advance Parole. Twenty-three-year-old Maria Sanchez Martinez is the former Vice President of East Coast Migrant Head Start Project’s Policy Council. In August of 2012, she was one of the first farmworkers to submit an application for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), which has allowed her to lawfully work in the U.S. and consequently, has improved th

Sister Diane Rabe is the Director of Child Development Programs at the Saint Benedict Center. This is her story about the visit of U.S. Representative Mike Kelly. “A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.” — John Maxwell On Wednesday, October 19, U.S. Representative Mike Kelly (R-PA) visited the Saint Benedict Center, the ECMHSP delegate agency in Erie, Pennsylvania. Leonor Saldaña, the center’s Policy Committee President and member of the ECMHSP Po

Preschool teacher Kerry Cormier stands with QA Manager Beth Zinkand and CEO Dr. Jose Villa. Last week, East Coast Migrant Head Start Project completed its administrative self-assessment – the final phase of its annual self-assessment. When the Head Start program was created 50 years ago, the early childhood experts who developed the program understood how difficult it would be to provide high-quality early childhood education in impoverished communities.  For that reason, the

Farmworker parents work through our ECMSHP Policy Council to create advocacy tools for the farmworker community, including videos. In October of 2012, migrant farmworker parents whose children attend an East Coast Migrant Head Start Project center developed a farmworker bills of rights. The farmworker bill of rights included many rights that other workers take for granted, such as the right to work for farmers who did not try to deceive OSHA inspectors and the right to access

On September 1, the Office of Head Start published the final updates to the Head Start Program Performance Standards, which describe what is needed to deliver comprehensive, high-quality individualized services to support the school readiness and healthy development of children from low-income families. According to OHS, the new standards announced last week are the first comprehensive revision of the Head Start Program Performance Standards since they were originally publish