{"id":2311,"date":"2026-05-18T05:10:19","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T12:10:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wildmtsky.com\/ecc\/?page_id=2311"},"modified":"2026-06-07T16:49:22","modified_gmt":"2026-06-07T23:49:22","slug":"presidents-message","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/wildmtsky.com\/ecc\/about-us\/presidents-message\/","title":{"rendered":"President’s Message"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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President\u2019s Message<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Unity Begins With Us\n<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Growing up in Olivehurst, California, the son of immigrant farm workers, I learned early that the promise of the American Dream is both deeply personal and profoundly shared. It lives in the strength of family, the power of education, the dignity of work, and the belief that every person deserves the opportunity to build a life of stability, purpose, and self-determination.<\/p>

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Those life experiences have shaped my values and guided my work. They are why I am proud and humbled to have led El Concilio California for more than 20 years, and why I remain deeply committed to the families, young people, seniors, workers, immigrants, and underserved communities we are privileged to serve.<\/p>

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For more than 57 years, El Concilio California has met adversity head-on. We have expanded access to health care for immigrant children, led DACA education and enrollment efforts, administered economic relief programs, supported families through moments of crisis, and served as a trusted backbone agency for critical regional and statewide initiatives. Today, we are once again being called to lead.<\/p>

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These are difficult times for many of the communities we serve. Across California\u2019s Central Valley, families are facing rising fear, instability, and uncertainty. Immigrant, migrant, and mixed-status families are navigating a changing immigration landscape, heightened enforcement concerns, and rhetoric that too often dehumanizes the very people who help sustain our communities, our economy, and our future.<\/p>

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The impact is real. Children are afraid. Workers are afraid. Families are delaying decisions, avoiding public spaces, and questioning whether the communities they have helped build are still places where they can safely belong. At the same time, the need for trusted information, legal assistance, behavioral wellness support, housing resources, workforce opportunities, and community advocacy continues to grow.<\/p>

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El Concilio California is responding because we must.<\/b><\/p>

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In 2024 alone, El Concilio California served more than 5,000 individuals through immigration legal services, victim assistance, housing support, and community education. Our immigration legal services unit assisted 1,837 individuals with critical filings, including naturalization, DACA renewals, and adjustment of status. Thousands more were reached through Know Your Rights education designed to protect families and empower communities with timely and accurate information.<\/p>

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Since January 2025, the demand for these services has surged. Our immigration unit now receives more than 500 calls each day from individuals and families seeking help, guidance, and reassurance. Our Behavioral Wellness team has also seen a significant rise in crisis-level mental health needs directly tied to fear, trauma, and uncertainty.<\/p>

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In response, El Concilio California has expanded its leadership role by helping convene and support regional efforts that centralize trusted resources, strengthen rapid response, coordinate community protection, and ensure families and advocates have access to accurate information when they need it most.<\/p>

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But our work is not only about responding to crisis. It is about building a stronger future.<\/p>

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Through our network of preschools, community centers, immigration centers, senior services, job readiness programs, behavioral wellness services, and our affiliate charter school division, El Concilio California serves more than 75,000 individuals and families annually. Every program, every partnership, and every act of service reflects our commitment to educate, uplift, and advocate for California\u2019s diverse, marginalized, and economically underserved communities.<\/p>

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There is a saying: \u201cDime con quien andas, y te dir\u00e9 quien eres.\u201d Tell me who you walk with, and I will tell you who you are.<\/p>

I am proud to walk with you.<\/p>

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To our community members: you are not alone. Your dignity matters. Your families matter. Your dreams matter. El Concilio California will continue to stand with you, advocate with you, and work beside you.<\/p>

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To our funders, partners, donors, and stakeholders: your leadership makes this work possible. Your trust allows us to respond with urgency, compassion, and purpose. Your support helps ensure that education replaces fear, rights are defended, families are supported, and dignity is preserved.<\/p>

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Unity Begins With Us.<\/b><\/p>

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It is more than a phrase. It is a commitment to embrace the best of human nature and humanity –\u00a0not only for ourselves, but for our children, our neighbors, our communities, and our country. It is a call to come together as one community so that we may overcome the challenges before us with courage, compassion, and shared responsibility.<\/p>

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That commitment must be more than words. It must be reflected in purposeful acts, meaningful deeds, and directed leadership.<\/p>

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Let it begin with us.<\/p>

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Here. Now. Today.<\/p>

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Jos\u00e9 R. Rodriguez<\/b>
President and CEO
El Concilio California<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

President\u2019s Message Unity Begins With Us Growing up in Olivehurst, California, the son of immigrant farm workers, I learned early that the promise of the American Dream is both deeply personal and profoundly shared. It lives in the strength of family, the power of education, the dignity of work, and the belief that every person […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":28,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"department":[],"class_list":["post-2311","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildmtsky.com\/ecc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2311","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildmtsky.com\/ecc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildmtsky.com\/ecc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildmtsky.com\/ecc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildmtsky.com\/ecc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2311"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/wildmtsky.com\/ecc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2311\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2491,"href":"https:\/\/wildmtsky.com\/ecc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2311\/revisions\/2491"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildmtsky.com\/ecc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/28"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildmtsky.com\/ecc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2311"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"department","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildmtsky.com\/ecc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/department?post=2311"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}