Growing Minds Early Education Programs is a nonprofit organization in Northern San Diego County. Growing Minds is passionately committed to improving our neighbors' health and well being by providing programs that educate young children, support working families, provide food for those feeding the hungry and ultimately create opportunities to improve the quality of life for residents of North Coun
ty.
For over 40 years, Growing Minds has been providing vitally needed services to local residents, operating six Preschool Child Development Centers as well as North County's Food Bank which was established 1989. NCCS is also the fiscal agent for North County's Regional Winter Shelter System, which serves 840 homeless individuals nightly from December through March of each year. Growing Minds Early Education Programs is a program of North County Community Services which has been in existence since the late 1960s. Initially, the organization provided programs for the economically disadvantaged in the City of Oceanside in under the name Oceanside Community Action Corporation. The agency incorporated in 1970 and the Balderrama Preschool Center was opened to provide affordable childcare to Oceanside residents. For the next 15 years, the organization focused its efforts on combating the impacts of poverty in Oceanside and the surrounding areas. In 1986 a re-entry program was established to provide services for individuals re-entering society after periods of incarceration. In 1988 North County's Food Bank was established as a formal program of the organization.
The need for services in Northern San Diego County continued to increase as the population grew. In 1992 the organization changed its name to North County Community Services to reflect the widening geographic region it serves. Through the 1990s, NCCS continued to grow, adding additional preschool centers in the communities of Vista, Escondido, and Poway, and contracting with the California Department of Education to provide full-day childcare services for low-income populations in these communities. In the early 2000s, the NCCS Food Bank moved to its current location in San Marcos. NCCS also expanded further to meet the need for preschool services in communities served by the organization. Today, the NCCS staff is about 100 strong. We continue to provide preschool services at five sites across Northern San Diego County, serving over hundreds of children and their families. Additionally, North County's Food Bank works with just over 100 community partner agencies to provide food to more than 18,000 individuals in need each month.
