We have many employees who dedicate their lives to serve our farmworker families.  Mireya Garcia has been with ECMHSP since 1999.  Please keep reading to learn more about her story at our ECMHSP Fountain Center, located in North Carolina. Could you please tell me about your background? My name is Mireya Garcia.  I was born in Mexico City, Mexico.  I came to the United States of America at the age of 16.  I am a U.S. Citizen. Mireya, her husband and son are pictured having fun

I recently had the opportunity to conduct a phone interview with Iralda Badillo, one of our team members at the ECMHSP Bowling Green Center, located in Florida West.  Keep reading to learn more about her professional growth since joining East Coast Migrant Head Start Project. Can you please tell me about your background? I was born in Mexico and came to the United States when I was eight-years old. We arrived in Jacksonville, Georgia during the tomato season.  My parents work

Dear Reader, As ECMHSP looks back at the many accomplishments of 2018, one word comes to mind: gratitude. ECMHSP is so grateful for our dedicated staff and hardworking families at each of our offices and Head Start centers.  They are the heartbeat of our organization — from the administrative offices in Raleigh, all the way down to our centers in Florida, where we have, once again, opened the doors at our centers to provide high-quality and comprehensive Head Start services t

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

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

Leaders from the faith, business and advocacy communities read Dreamer testimonials on Capitol Hill. Photo credit: FWD.us East Coast Migrant Head Start Project is committed to preparing the children of migrant and seasonal farm workers for success. The farmworker families we serve entrust their children to ECMHSP centers while they toil in the fields every day to feed America. But many of these same families live with the fear of separation, afraid that today will be the last

Migrant Clinicians Network has partnered with ECMHSP to provide health education through a grant from the Aetna Foundation’s Cultivating Healthy Communities program. This is their post about the grant. Migrant Clinicians Network has been selected as a grantee in the Aetna Foundation’s Cultivating Healthy Communities program and was awarded a $100,000 community grant to implement a new program entitled, It Takes a Community: Protecting Farmworker Children from Environmental Co

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

Armando Cendejas is part of the 2017 NMSHSA Summer Internship Program and as a child was enrolled in the ECMHSP Fort Pierce Head Start center in Florida. This is his story. Armando Cendejas, one of the students selected for the NMSHSA Internship Class of 2017, shares his story at the Closing Celebration in Washington, DC. My name is Armando Cendejas. I am a 20-year-old sophomore attending Indian River State College in Fort Pierce, Florida, pursuing a degree in Physical Therap

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

John Menditto, ECMHSP General Counsel, with Lou Struble and Gaby Procacci of Procacci Brothers farms, which employs many of the farmworker families served by the center. On July 14, ECMHSP celebrated the Jennings (Florida) Early Head Start center with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. The Jennings staff and the Early Head Start staff did an amazing job of hosting this special event. We had a number of important visitors attend the ceremony and tour the center, including Lamar Hill a

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

Lynn Bowen is the Head Start Administrator for ECMHSP’s Direct Services in Virginia. This is her experience as she and her team prepare to serve farmworker families at their centers. At East Coast Migrant Head Start Project, the summer season has a slightly different meaning. It is growing season for many farms across America and workers are called to harvest the fresh fruits and vegetables grown under the summer sun. The migrant and seasonal farmworker families we serve begi

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

Children at our centers benefit from the multiculturalism celebrated in our classrooms. ECMHSP is proud to serve America’s farmworker families, a challenging task that we have lovingly undertaken for more than 35 years.  Many of these farmworker families immigrated to the United States, bringing with them their rich cultures, languages, and beautiful traditions that are passed down to their children.  The children enrolled in our Migrant and Seasonal Head Start program benefi