ESCONDIDO (KGTV) — The state of California awarded the Escondido YMCA a $1.2 million grant Saturday for upgrades to its soccer field, gym and playground, as more than 40 organizations gathered at the facility for a resource fair connecting North County families with food, housing, transportation and public safety resources.
The upgrades are expected to serve thousands of North County families who use the facility each year.
Assembly Member Darshana Patel helped organize the resource fair alongside the grant announcement, bringing together community organizations to connect local families with everyday and emergency resources.
"Academic opportunities, city opportunities, we have the Escondido City Library is here, so lots of just everyday kind of resources but also things that can help them during crisis moments," Patel said.
211 San Diego was among the organizations at the fair, offering connections to housing, tax assistance, utility help and childcare resources. Representative Oralia Gonzalez said the in-person event gave the call center a rare opportunity to meet the community face-to-face.
"We are here today at the YMCA in Escondido. We kinda like to come out to these events because we are a call center, so we don't really get to see people face-to-face, and we kinda like to come out to be able to see the faces of our community too. Introduce ourselves to the individuals who are not familiar with 211 San Diego," Gonzalez said.
Feeding San Diego also participated in the resource fair, providing food access to families in need. Representative Sam Duke said rising costs have increased demand for the organization's services.
"It's growing just with the cost of inflation, gas, healthcare. Unfortunately, it's growing, so the need is there. We provide, as I mentioned, distributions across the county, but being here just helps raise awareness for those distributions and provides access to families who may be in need again at no cost, no questions, so really trying to remove the barriers," Duke said.
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