805-659-3791 [email protected] 702 County Square Drive,
Ste 200 Ventura, CA 93003

The Cabrillo Economic Development Corporation

Comprehensive Housing Services and Community Economic Development

Citizens Business Bank awards $10,000 grant to Cabrillo

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Citizens Business Bank has awarded a $10,000 grant to Cabrillo Economic Development Corporation in support of its after-school Homework Club program for farmworkers and other low-income families.

“We are grateful to Citizens Business Bank for this grant that will enable us to continue providing the Homework Club program to students at our properties,” said Denise Bickerstaff, Director of Business Development and Administration at Cabrillo..”

The Cabrillo Homework Clubs are an after-school tutoring program that provides homework assistance and general academic help for farmworker and other low-income families. The clubs reinforce concepts and instruction from class, provide opportunities to learn and practice new skills, and support principles of youth development.

Cabrillo collaborates with California State University, Channel Islands, students to provide homework assistance at its on-property Homework Cubs in Oxnard and Ventura. This spring semester, 12 Chicano studies students assisted with Homework Club supervision and activities as part of their semester-long Service Learning Project. Students in additional CSUCI classes also volunteered time during the semester to assist with tutoring and activities.

With the assistance of donors and grants like the Citizens Business Bank grant, Cabrillo was able to expand the program from four sites to six in 2018.

“Cabrillo’s after-school Homework Clubs address the needs of our resident low-income youth that are having trouble with schoolwork and have no one at home to provide homework assistance,” said Bickerstaff.

According to the U.S. Department of Education, Hispanics have the highest high school dropout rate. Limited English proficiency, low educational attainment, and limited economic resources hinder many parents from engaging their children in early literacy activities that have been shown to be important for later academic success.

“The Homework Clubs are especially important to our farmworker families who want their children to do well in school but cannot afford the cost or have the transportation to get children to and from other after-school programs at an inconvenient location,” Bickerstaff said.

Cabrillo, CSUCI project receives Best Community Engagement Award

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A partnership project between Cabrillo Economic Development Corporation and California State University, Channel Islands, has received the university’s Center For Community Engagement’s 2019 Best Community Engagement Award.

The project is a partnership between Kathleen Contreras, PhD., and an instructor for “The Chicano Child & Adolescent” course, her students and Cabrillo’s Villa Cesar Chavez Apartments.

The Salsa Garden Project sought to connect students to low-income and immigrant youth, their families, and community-based organizations; to increase awareness of the importance of a plant-based diet, especially vegetables grown in a sustainable community garden maintained by the residents; and to teach literacy-based, hands-on activities to children in the local community.

“It is ironic that in a rich, agricultural region in Ventura County, farmworkers often don’t benefit from the fresh fruits and vegetables they harvest,” according to the project’s presentation. “However, a local community and culturally relevant nutritional garden can reduce food insecurity and positive dietary intake, as well as strengthen community relationships.”

The three-week project began with 27 students meeting with farmworker residents at Villa Cesar Chavez Apartments and its resident manager, Cristina Heredia, a CSUCI alumna. Heredia said the original plan came from Contreas.

Heredia said CSUCI students surveyed residents about their preferences for plants with regard to cultural significance and personal tastes and based their vegetable choices on those outcomes. The college students then took that information out to local businesses to garner donations for the project – businesses like Agromin, which donated soil for the project.

The students created learning stations for resident children for the literacy-based educational portion. Stations included:

• Professor Contreras reading to children from her book,” Cosechando Amigos/Harvesting Friends”
• Creating garden bookmarks to encourage independent reading
• Creating colorful plant identification markers for the garden, vegetable-shaped science observational journals and a bulletin board with vegetable art
• Planting culturally relevant vegetables like corn, cilantro four types of tomatoes, three kinds of chiles, squash, and onions.
• Serving fresh vegetable snacks including homemade salsa and fruit-flavored water

“We are so proud of our CSUCI students who engaged children living at Villa Chavez in literacy-based activities related to healthy eating practices and gardening activities. They and the children worked hard in creating a culturally-relevant, community-based garden providing fresh vegetables on-site at Villa Cesar Chavez. Our goal is not only to feed the residents but grow friendship and strengthen community bonds.” said Contreras.

Contreras said the project implemented a variety of the service learning program’s best practices, including:
• Combining bilingual services, books, discussions, interactions and community organizing in a single project
• Aligning the professional goals of the CSUCI students with a community-based organization and its clients
• Uniting cross-generational participants in an activity
• Connecting with CSU alumni who are working in community-based professions
• Connecting to community-based partners for in-kind donations.

Service-learning offers an additional teaching tool to learn about the social, educational, health and financial realities of Latino youth and their families living in a farmworker community while enriching the academic and social experiences of CSUCI students, many of whom are aspiring to become bilingual teachers. Channel Islands students gain rich experiences in teaching literacy-based and hands-on activities for children, according to the project presentation materials.

Meet Cabrillo Board member Victor Rodriguez

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In this recurring feature, Cabrillo introduces each of our board members. We are grateful for their support, commitment to community, leadership, and experience in their fields.

Victor is a success story and a strong advocate for Cabrillo. He grew up in the Cabrillo Village farmworker community, which had a positive impact on his life and created opportunities for his family.

Victor has been a human resources professional for nearly 20 years. His professional background includes positions at Reiter Affiliated Companies, Monsanto, and Your People Professionals. He is currently the Human Resources Director at Puretec Industrial Water. He also has served as a board member for Habitat for Humanity and the Workforce Investment Board of Ventura County. Victor holds a bachelor’s degree in Organizational Management from the University of LaVerne and lives in Camarillo with his wife and two children.

Why were you interested in joining Cabrillo’s Board of Directors?

I joined because of my passion for affordable housing, and Cabrillo is a great vehicle for me to make an impact through its mission. I was fortunate to grow up in affordable housing affiliated with Cabrillo, which offered me insight that I can now leverage to support our mission.

What is the best part of being a board member?

Leveraging my professional and personal experiences to help Cabrillo’s leadership accomplish our goals. I also enjoy working with other board members who share a similar passion for affordable housing.

What makes our mission meaningful?

It is meaningful to me because my quality of life was personally impacted by growing up in affordable housing. Having access to affordable housing and safe living conditions allowed our family to focus on other priorities, including homework, and I was able to participate in after-school programs.

Given the choice of anyone in the world, whom would you want as a dinner guest?

I was thinking of someone famous who no longer lives, and two great leaders came to mind – Franklin Delano Roosevelt or Winston Churchill. Even with all of their faults, they succeeded in the face of what most would agree were some serious adversities. I then thought I could just pick up their biographies to get more insight. Then I thought how much cooler it would be to have my late grandfather over for dinner. I would ask him questions about his adventures growing up in a small Mexican village, his travels to the US to work with the railroad, and harvesting crops to support such a large family. That, to me, would be a great dinner conversation!

Do you have a motto or personal mantra?

Truly understand and appreciate other points of view regardless of how opposing or foreign they may appear to your own. You may be surprised at what you learn and what it may do to your own beliefs.

What might people be surprised to know about you?

That I will be participating in this year’s Oxnard Salsa Festival Dancing with Our Community Stars and making a mockery of myself trying to dance!

What excites you and scares you the most about the competition?

I am excited about the exposure this will create for Cabrillo’s brand and our mission, but what scares me is tripping over my own feet into a face plant in front of a large audience!

Applications available for Rodney Fernandez Leadership Scholarship

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Edison International grant provides $10,000 to award to STEM majors

Applications are now available for the 2019 Rodney Fernandez Leadership Scholarship.

The Rodney Fernandez Leadership Scholarship Program, created in 2011, honors Rodney Fernandez, Cabrillo’s founder and Executive Director for 30 years (1981–2011). The Scholarship continues Fernandez’s legacy of community building by cultivating the leadership of residents to attain their goals, empower themselves and to take action and improve the quality of life in their communities.

The Scholarship will award a total of $13,000 to its recipients with $10,000, provided by an Edison International grant to be divided among STEM recipients and $3,000 among recipients of any major. The amount of each scholarship will be determined based on participation and qualifications.

Eligibility Requirements:
• You must be a Ventura County resident.
• You must be a Science, Technology, Engineering or Math (STEM) major if applying for the $10,000 in funds earmarked by Edison International for STEM scholarships.
• Applicants for the $3,000 can be enrolled in any major, including but not limited to: Business, Liberal Arts, Fine Arts, Education, etc.
• Your household income must be less than or equal to 80 percent of the Area Median Income (AMI) for Ventura County.
• You must currently be enrolled in and/or continuing college education, in the process of applying to an accredited institution, or enrolled in an undergraduate or graduate program.
• Applications must be completed, signed, and submitted with all the required attachments on or before 5 p.m. on FRIDAY, MAY 17, 2019.
• The first priority for awards shall be granted to existing residents of Cabrillo properties.

Applications are available on at bit.ly/CEDCScholarship. For more information, contact Cabrillo’s Resident and Community Services Department at [email protected] with the subject RFL Scholarship, or call 805-659-3791.

Cabrillo now offering office space for lease

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Office space is available for lease at Cabrillo’s corporate building, located in Ventura near the Ventura County Government Center, restaurants and shopping. Space includes:

  • 4 private offices
  • 1 larger space with 3 smaller offices
  • Access to meeting rooms
  • Utilities included 

For more information, contact Tee Khamseng at 805-444-1333.

Support Cabrillo as a 2019 Annual Sponsor

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You are invited to support Cabrillo’s mission of affordable housing as a 2019 sponsor. Your organization will not only receive positive visibility and recognition, but you will make a difference in someone’s life. Cabrillo provides safe and secure housing for those who need it most, and creates a ladder of opportunity with enriching social and educational programs. 

Download our Sponsorship Information packet, and contact Jeanette Villanueva, Director of Fund Development & Communications at [email protected]

RCS recruits Homework Club volunteers at CSUCI

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Cabrillo will be collaborating with CSU, Channel Islands, students this semester to provide homework assistance at its on-property Homework Cubs in Oxnard and Ventura. Cabrillo is recruiting 12 Chicano studies students to assist with Homework Club supervision and activities as part of their semester-long Service Learning Project. Students in a couple of additional CSUCI classes will volunteer time twice each throughout the semester to assist with tutoring and activities.

Click Here to view a video of the presentation given by Cabrillo Residents Services Coordinators Gloria Solorzano and Diana Ortega to CSU, Channel Islands, students as a part of a Service Learning Project in the Chicano Studies Classes.

Housing is the foundation for improving lives”

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Zeeda Daniele, who joined the Cabrillo Economic Development Corporation’s Board of Directors in 1991, steps down.

Daniele has served in many board capacities over the years, including President, Vice President and on several committees. Please join us in thanking Zeeda for her many contributions and service.

Why did you choose to support Cabrillo?

Cabrillo believes that housing is the foundation for improving the lives of low-moderate income and under-served individuals and families. For more than 35 years, Cabrillo has put people first; through housing development, integrated programs and services that encourage housing stability and personal growth. I chose Cabrillo as much as we chose each other because of our common desire to change lives through affordable housing.

Why is our mission meaningful to you?

That’s too hard to answer. If you read Cabrillo’s mission of “Comprehensive housing and economic development services that encourage self-sufficiency for families lacking the most opportunity,” it is all meaningful. However, Cabrillo goes beyond this. Cabrillo is an organization with a lens that looks at housing, jobs, transportation and all the aspects that make neighborhoods countywide safe, strong and thriving.

What interests you the most?

Cabrillo’s housing development is most meaningful to me. Addressing the housing needs in an area desperately lacking housing for low to moderate incomes, special needs and seniors is critical. Cabrillo does this even when it’s unpopular to do so. I believe people living in America want their neighbors to live a better life. However, they struggle to overcome bias and myths regarding racial or social economic background, and how housing designed to address the needs of under-served households will influence the existing neighborhood.  

What do you love about Cabrillo?

Everything! I love current CEO, Margarita de Escontrias’, vision for the present and future organization. I love all past and present staff that work tirelessly to make sure the opportunity and access to safe, sound and affordable housing and home ownership is possible.

What is your most vivid memory?

Attending my first grand opening of an affordable income/first-time buyer Cabrillo development in Oxnard. I remember meeting two wonderful families following the ribbon-cutting ceremony. One of the buyers was a young couple. The husband was a firefighter with just a few years on the job, and his wife was expecting their first child. He talked about being a third-generation Ventura resident and having almost given up on finding a home in the area. He also shared his hesitance in working with Cabrillo because he didn’t believe Cabrillo would recognize the needs and desperation of a middle-income family just starting out. Thankfully, his wife disagreed and signed them up for a Cabrillo workshop. Afterward, the couple drove around Ventura to see Cabrillo’s body of work, both for-sale and rental housing, for themselves. The rest is history. The second family was a large family. Both parents were farmworkers and residents at one of Cabrillo’s farmworker apartments. They expressed how moving from an apartment they shared with two other farmworker families into a Cabrillo rental project not only changed their lives — but their children’s lives and belief in what was possible. Together the parents and two of their children, now college graduates, started on an almost decade-long path to saving and preparing to own a home. The ceremony day exposed me to two very different families with very different life experiences, but the very same dream. A dream that without Cabrillo seemed out of reach.

YIMBY (YES IN MY BACKYARD)

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CEO Message: Margarita H. de Escontrias

Cabrillo builds homes for people. However, how many do we need to build? In the State of California, we need to build 180,000 new homes every year. Moreover, state housing law asks every city in California to plan for their fair share of that housing as placement, which should occur everywhere in our state. But, how much do we need here locally?

Ventura County and our 10 incorporated cities are required to plan for 19,158 homes, according to the Regional Housing Needs Analysis (RHNA) goals for the period of 2014-2021. Individual cities are responsible for meeting their assigned housing goals, while the county government is responsible for housing construction in unincorporated areas. Are we close, or on track to meeting these goals?  Sadly, no, according to the California Department of Housing and Community Development. 

Over the previous eight-year cycle, statewide, we have not been building nearly enough. We need to identify ways to get housing built faster and more efficiently through our regulatory processes. We have state laws in place to ensure housing production. Coming out of the legislative session last year, housing advocates across the state were able to secure the 15 bills in the housing package signed into law. What a victory for us all! However, we must work toward a housing-jobs balance. There is a mismatch between demographics and housing — and between jobs and housing. We are losing jobs in Ventura County and not building enough housing to meet the increasing demands. Let us build right here in our county, YIMBY.  Let us create jobs for our folk’s right here! It is not just that we need more supply; it is that we need more supply in the right places.

805-659-3791
[email protected]
702 County Square Drive, Ste 200
 Ventura, CA 93003
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