Kathie Lembo, CEO – SBCS

SBCS began in 1971 as a tiny drop-center for drug-abusing teens. Under Kathie Lembo’s leadership as President and CEO since 1982, it has grown into one of the largest social service and community development agencies in the County, and touches the lives of 50,000 people every year. They offer 50 different programs that provide supportive services to children, youth and families throughout San Diego.

Kathie led the SBCS team in taking immediate action to support San Diegans hardest hit by COVID-19: securing hotel rooms to temporarily house families and transition-age youth affected by the virus; collaborating with the City of Chula Vista on the innovative use of RVs to house the homeless; providing emergency food for over 10,000 families per month; and working closely with the Alpha Project on outreach in the South Region. Together with community partners, SBCS has also provided distance learning support and mental health and violence prevention services to thousands more since the start of the pandemic.

As written in the Union Tribune: “When San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria and county Supervisors Nathan Fletcher and Nora Vargas announced in March that the convention center would, within a matter of days, temporarily house unaccompanied migrant children, the leaders turned to San Diego’s community of service providers to care for them. Without hesitation, SBCS, along with Casa Familiar, the YMCA, New Alternatives, MAAC, San Diego Youth Services, the San Diego County Office of Education and the Logan Heights Community Development Corp. were all on board.

Kathie will talk about the sheer logistics of the creation of this emergency intake shelter in the San Diego Convention Center, drawing on each of the participating organization’s areas of expertise and decades of experience in helping vulnerable children to thrive.