Ronald Epps
WHAT: A regional teen coalition committed to promoting healthy, resilient communities, is teaming up with San Diego County Board of Supervisor Chair Nathan Fletcher to launch Light Our Way 2021. A county-wide celebration of Graduates, Everyday Heroes, and Resilient Communities, Light Our Way honors the Class of 2021 and San Diegans, from all walks of life, who’ve overcome hardship and loss during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Light Our Way will unfold against a civic backdrop emerging from the darkness of an 18-month global pandemic and into the light of brighter days ahead. Channeling the hope and possibility in the air, the young advocates have planned a spectrum of family-friendly activities designed to generate a joyful spirit of pride in graduates as they reflect on their academic achievements and prepare to embark on the next chapter of their life journeys. The celebration is also a tribute to community resilience, springing to life as San Diegans reconnect with friends, businesses, and community after weathering the loss and isolation of COVID-19.
WHO: Community Champion Supervisor Nathan Fletcher, will join young advocates, representing Advocates for Change Today (ACT), Project A.W.A.R.E., Boys to Men Mentoring Network, The Collective and San Diego Promise Neighborhood, on the front line of the campaign. Community Partners SAY San Diego, Outfront Media, and Business for Good — a local nonprofit dedicated to creating an economic arena that lifts all businesses across all neighborhoods — will lend their voices to the movement. Together, they will ground its mission in a powerful message: “We’re Stronger Than Ever!”
WHEN: Timed to bookend the time frame when many school commencement ceremonies will take place, Light Our Way will kick off Monday, June 7 and wrap up on Sunday, June 20. The first three days of the campaign, Monday June 7 – Wednesday, June 9, will spotlight messages and activities organized around the themes: Hope, Gratitude, and Joy. Afterward, the campaign will buzz with new creativity as residents, businesses, and nonprofit organizations contribute their unique voices to the festivities.
A lack of affordable, high-quality early childhood care throughout San Diego County is an enormous obstacle that adversely affects children’s readiness for kindergarten and school, and creates barriers to employment and upward mobility for new parents.
Students from SAY San Diego’s Club ELEVATED at Serra High School worked alongside law enforcement to collect expired and unused medication during National Prescription Drug Take Back Day. NBC 7 covered the event.
The City of San Diego updated its Social Host Ordinance law to include marijuana and other drugs in addition to alcohol. SAY San Diego’s Lisa Bridges, Program Manager with the Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drug Prevention program, spoke to NBC 7’s Danny Freeman.
ABC 10 News reporter, Jeff Lasky, visited SAY San Diego’s Jerabek Preschool and spoke with CEO, Nancy Gannon Hornberger, about our plan to open a workplace Early Childhood Center. Thanks to a generous grant from the Guy C. Clum Fund at The San Diego Foundation, the Early Childhood Center will serve as a model to local employers to inform and encourage them to develop child-care centers at their own workplaces.
SAY San Diego is pleased to partner with the San Diego Police Department to host open houses for the crime-free multi-family housing program. Crime-free multi-housing brings a hands-on, collaborative approach to reduce crime, drugs, and gangs in apartment communities. SAY San Diego facilitates the engagement of residents and property managers in training and information sessions designed to help them be more aware and proactive in preventing crime.
