With continuous generosity over the years, Eastsiders have helped make this D R E A M possible. We’re so thankful to partner with Tijuana Christian Mission and to have the opportunity to impact the children of this community. eastside.com/serveglobally
Eastside Christian Church’s Local Compassion team met with Anaheim native, Shanelle, to learn first-hand about her life; one that has been marked with different waves of obstacles and perseverance.
Growing up, Jesse was taught by his parents to respect the local Police Officers they’d pass by on the street. That respect grew to admiration as TV shows like SWAT and Adam 12 enhanced his perception of the officers protecting his city. “That’s what I wanted,” Jesse explained, “and that’s what the majority of cops want as they enter the force: to do good, to be the heros we grew up thinking so highly of.”
“I got hit in the head on the job site, started having seizures and such. That’s when I got put on medicine and no one wanted to take a chance on me.” Wesley is a 52 year old man who migrated from Louisiana to California in 2013 after receiving no help after a work injury. When Eastside’s Local Compassion crew met with him at his newly acquired apartment, he began to unveil his story.
May is National Foster Care Month, a time set aside originally in 1988 by President Ronald Reagan to offer appreciation to foster parents. Since being initiated, the National Foster Care Coalition has worked to expand the goals of this month to focus on awareness of the issues at hand and to encourage willing citizens to get involved with the foster system.
For some of us, only one medical emergency, or one pay cut, or one traffic citation separates us from experiencing homelessness. Oftentimes as a society, we assume that the folks we see on on the streets of our neighborhoods have a story of how they got there that is far from relatable, but nothing could be further from the truth.
Three times a week, one of Eastside’s community partners reaches out to our Local Compassion department with news of an individual or family’s pressing need. Erica Sperrazzo, Director of Local Compassion at Eastside Christian Church, then gets to work, seeking out the ways and means necessary in order to assist the person(s) in dire straights.
We’re both named Sam, I guess that’s what initially drew me to her sweet face in the sea of Sponsorship Cards I was looking over. I had had this small and steady feeling on my heart for awhile to step up and join the many compassionate Eastsiders in taking a sponsorship child under my financial and prayerful wing.
On a Tuesday morning this past February, two policemen responded to a typical traffic accident call in Whittier, California; but when they appeared on the scene they were faced with much more than that. A man known to have gang affiliation had stolen the vehicle responsible for the crash that morning and opened fire on the officers as they approached him at the site of the collision. What was supposed to be standard procedure, turned into a day filled with emotion as the gunman took the life of one of the officers and injured the other.