Aug 18, 2022
Juan's Story
Juan is a 50 year old male and survivor of labor trafficking. Juan was trafficked outside of the states since he was a preteen and throughout majority of his adulthood. Late 2021 Juan migrated to America, homeless, in need of employment, medical insurance and immigration resources. Juan reached out to Project Life intake line seeking assistance. Juan expressed a desire to heal from the trauma and become his best self. Juan worked with his case manager to find Transitional Housing, employment, advance his coping skills and further his education. The client is building a support system and leans on them when he is having a difficult time, his brother being his main support. Since engaging in services Juan is actively meeting all immigration and legal needs, he has completed a course to certify him in area of work interest, began employment full time and maintained stable housing.
Jul 22, 2022
Lifeline Celebrates Pride
At Lifeline, we understand it’s important to create safe spaces for all identities, including our LGBTQIA+ staff and clients. Over the past two months, Lifeline has participated in several exciting events & pieces of training: LGBTQ Training with North County LGBTQ Center Lifeline sponsored pieces of training on working with LGBTQIA+ clients and colleagues. Max Disposti from the NC LGBTQ Center and K Thomas from NCL co-facilitated the training to provide staff with an overview of the needs of clients within the LGBTQIA2S+ communities, including current legislative concerns, gaps in services, and resiliency of these identities. SheFest Event Lifeline's Project LIFE Anti-Human Trafficking program participated in tabling for SheFest 2022 as a founding member of the LGBTQIA+ Survivor Taskforce. SheFest delivers empowering and accessible programming and content that centers LGBTQ+ women and non-binary people; creates opportunities to connect LGBTQ+ small businesses to new audiences; facilitates social events that bring people together, and invests in and celebrates the volunteer leadership of SheFest committee members. The flagship SheFest street fair that we tabled for brought approximately 8,00 people to the event, with our table having direct contact with over 300 people! SD Pride Event Lifeline's Project LIFE Anti-Human Trafficking program tabled at the San Diego Pride Festival in the new Trans Pride Village. The Trans Pride Village was a curated areas for services specifically for the Transgender and Nonbinary communities. It included services for gender-affirming care, victim services, legal services, mental health services and local businesses owner for Trans/Non-binary communities members. The two-day festival was attended by 55,000 people and Project LIFE staff provided information to 514 people!
Jul 07, 2022
Coloring for Kindness Event
Lifeline was selected as the beneficiary for a "Coloring for Kindness" event on July 23 from 1:00 - 3:00 PM hosted by Swami's cafe. Come join artist, John Barge III & author, Donna Weber as we color for kindness to support Lifeline's mission of building self-reliance among youth, adults, and families. The kindness project coloring book/journal ($24.99) includes your choice of colored pencils, crayons, or markers.
Jun 18, 2022
Zuniga's Story
Zuniga has been in Lifeline’s TYH, transitional housing program for nearly two years, and has put in a lot of work to learn independent living skills, maintain full-time work as well as make permanent connections in the community. During her time in this program, Zuniga has learned to stay on top of obligations and responsibilities, especially those related to independent living. According to Zuniga, what has been most helpful in the program, has been support from staff, case management meetings, and “tough love” that has helped her to take responsibility and learn ways she can be successful. “The staff has motivated me to keep going on being independent even when I was struggling and dealing with family issues and was not in a good place mentally.” Before entering the program, and even in the beginning of her time in the program, Zuniga says that she was struggling to hold a full-time job. As of March, she shares she will have been employed full-time with the same company for a year. Additionally, she is learning to budget and is preparing to purchase a car with the money she is saving. “I am thankful for the support and encouragement from LifeSpring and Lifeline Community Services on my journey to self-sufficiency.”
May 12, 2022
Lifeline Highlights the Month of May as Mental Health Awareness Month
One of our resident experts, K Thomas (LPCC, NCC (they/she)) is featured in two interviews discussing the importance of mental health, the services Lifeline Community Services provides, and information about human trafficking in San Diego County. In the May episode of Oceanside Spectrum KCOT, K discusses the challenges that youth have faced with their mental health, particularly since the onset of the pandemic, and the mission and services Lifeline Community Services provides. K is also a guest on the Diving into Healing Podcast from the San Diego Psychological Association. The episode gives an introduction to human trafficking and explores definitions of trafficking, common dynamics, local statistics, and how to identify and report an abuse. Please take some time this month to check in with your mental health, as well as those around you. Lifeline has many resources available for youth and families, including referrals to community partners and other organizations.
May 06, 2022
Lifeline Celebrates National Volunteer Month with Annual Volunteer Awards!
Volunteers are the heart and soul of Lifeline Community Services! This past month of April we had the opportunity to celebrate and highlight the amazing work they accomplished in the last year. Thank you to everyone who attended the Zoom presentation and was able to pick up lunch at the Vista Campus. Thank you to our Title Sponsor who made this event possible: Congratulations to this Year's Award Winners! We appreciate you! Outstanding New Intern Award Winner: Outstanding New Volunteer Award Winner: Happy Lifeliner Award Winner: Team Spirit Award Winner: Mission in Motion Award Winner: Attitude of Gratitude Award Winner: Passion and Purpose Award Winner: Mike Cavataio Volunteer of the Year Award Winner:
Mar 09, 2022
Julia's Story
Julia’s Story Julia is a client of Lifeline’s mental and behavioral health programs. She is still a teenager, but due to her mother’s unfortunate health issues, Julia is now the sole provider for their little family. Thankfully, Julia is a capable and hard-worker who maintains full-time employment. However, she is taking on a lot of responsibility, and just enrolled in community college so she can improve her career options. Over the years, Julia has also worked hard to overcome a history of childhood sexual abuse and multiple family disruptions due to Child Welfare Services involvement. She continues to work with Lifeline to receive the mental health support she needs to process her trauma, build coping skills, and make a better life for herself. Recently, Julia received support from Lifeline to help with food expenses. This allowed her to stretch her budget to purchase school supplies for her upcoming semester instead of worrying about how to budget for the next week’s meals. With support from Lifeline and our generous donors, Julia is looking forward to a successful, self-reliant future.
Mar 05, 2022
Rest Haven Supports Recent Universal Studios & Fleet Science Center Youth Field Trip
Lifeline's Club Crown Heights (CCH) youth had the opportunity to take a field trip to Universal Studios and the Fleet Science Center thanks to the support from grant funder, Rest Haven Children's Health Fund. Field trips like these help provide CCH youth an afterschool outlet that helps build skills and plan for successful futures.
Mar 03, 2022
SDG&E Expands Resources for Youth STEM & Outdoor Outreach Programs
A recent grant from SDG&E supports Club Crown Heights (CCH) youth STEM programs like Outdoor Outreach! Club Crown Heights programs are aligned within a Positive Youth Development model, “Triple E”. Triple E focuses on Education, Employment, and Civic Engagement. In 2016, Club Crown Heights launched a STEM Education Project that encourages students to pursue Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math subjects. We are grateful for corporate partners like SDG&E who help make programs like this possible.
Feb 16, 2022
Lifeline Hosts COVID-19 Vaccination Day - March 4
Lifeline Hosts COVID-19 Vaccination Day & Weekly Testing Lifeline continues to provide BOTH testing and vaccine clinics in partnership with the County of San Diego every Thursday from 9:00 AM - 3:30 PM at ourVista location (200 Michigan Ave.) In partnership with the North County LGBTQ Resource Center and TrueCare, Lifeline will also be hosting asingle-day vaccine clinic on March 4 from 2:00 - 5:30 PM at Lifeline's Vista location (200 Michigan Ave).