Dora Jacildo on Primetime

Dora Jacildo

On Thursday, July 14, 2011 at 4pm PST Dora Jacildo, Executive Officer of Children Today returns as our guest on Swoop’s World Primetime. Children Today will be hosting it’s 3rd Annual Children Today 5K/10K walk/run, benefiting the Children Today playhouse programs that provide child care and preschool for homeless kids and families this weekend, Saturday July 16th. Dora will be filling us in on the event as well as all of the wonderful things that Children Today does in our community.

Dora Jacildo has over 17 years of experience in the field of early care and education. Her career began as a preschool teacher, and after leaving the classroom Dora worked with child care providers while improving the quality of early childhood education in the South Bay. In this capacity, she mentored over 300 providers and assisted with the start of hundreds of family child care businesses.

Dora’s experience earned her a position as Manager of the Resource and Referral Department at Connections for Children in Santa Monica. She served as Vice President of the California Child Care Resource and Referral Network; as a member of LA County’s Service Planning Area 8 Steering Committee; was crucial in the development of the pilot for KCET’s A Place of Their Own and Los Niños En Su Casa; and helped develop the quality standards for what is now Los Angeles County’s Universal Preschool.

Since 2004, Dora has served as Executive Director of Children Today. She volunteers on many local committees and commissions, including the Long Beach Area Coalition for the Homeless, the Multi Service Center Advisory Board and is a member of the Long Beach Nonprofit Partnership.

In 2006, Dora Jacildo received the Local Hero of the Year Award from Union Bank of California and KCET. In 2007, she was featured on the KVEA Channel 52 Local Hero segment, and in 2008 was recognized by the Press Telegram for her work in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month. Dora holds a master’s degree in Human Development and Social Change from Pacific Oaks College.

About Children Today

Children Today was founded in 1997 by two working mothers in Long Beach, California, after one of them saw a toddler wandering alone down a busy street, wearing only a diaper, his parents nowhere to be seen. It was this haunting image of homelessness – as well as its often overlooked impact on children – that inspired the creation of Children Today.

In 2000, co-founders Theresa Bixby and Jennifer Fitzgerald, along with the board of directors, opened the Play House West – a free, licensed, comprehensive child development and day care center for children experiencing homelessness from six weeks to six years of age. In 2008, Children Today expanded by opening The Play House North, a second child development and day care center serving children experiencing homelessness in north Long Beach.

Children Today is an advocate for the needs of children in a system that typically sees homelessness as a problem only affecting adults. The goal of Children Today is simple – to increase the safety, stability and confidence of children facing homelessness and provide quality early care and education programs absolutely free of charge.

Since inception, the combined impact of the Play House West and Play House North has reached over 800 families in Long Beach.