St. Mark's Lutheran Church

Chula Vista has a childcare crisis--the city has been termed a "childcare desert! St. Mark's is working hard to fill this critical need in our community. We are beginning a $950,000 renovation of two buildings on our campus to provide a desperately-needed, high quality, affordable childcare program. This is will not be a faith-based childcare program. Educational Enrichment Services, a 501(c)(3) non-profit agency and the largest childcare provider in San Diego County, will manage and run the Center's daily operations.

Chula Vista has been designated a "childcare desert" by the federal government. This means that there are more than 3 times as many children who need childcare as there are childcare openings in the five zip codes surrounding our church. We are striving to help close this gap in our community's most basic needs. This is an economic crisis for our community because parents can't work when they can't find affordable childcare, OR small children are being deprived of critical interpersonal and linguistic development because they are spending the day in front of the TV or on a tablet to "keep them quiet" or out of trouble with adults or older children who are tasked with their "care." St. Mark's has the space and desire to help close this gap by providing 45 new, high quality, affordable childcare openings for pre-school children from our community.

St. Mark's has a 70-year tradition of community service. We are a small church bilingual/bi-cultural congregation located in west Chula Vista, 7 miles north of the Mexican border, and just south of San Diego, CA. We currently provide English and Spanish worship services, family and youth programs, fellowship, spiritual guidance, free ESL classes, an emergency food pantry serving over 1300 people a year, and two food distributions a month serving over 400 families each day.

If you would like to be a part of this critical, community-impact childcare project, we invite you to donate to help us reach our goal. We are asking for donations from our members, friends and neighbors, as well as seeking grants to offset the cost of this project. St. Mark's has no debt and is fiscally sound. We are seeking ways to raise the required $950,000 without taking out a loan, and we would like to have the childcare center open by January, 2025. Won't you help us improve the lives of 40 children, their families and our community? Please DONATE TODAY and we will keep you informed of our progress. God bless you.