Sycuan Donates $5,000 to Second Chance January 14, 2021 This week, Sycuan Casino Resort proudly presented $5,000 to Second Chance in support of their Community Garden Initiative. Second Chance is headquartered in Encanto, a Southeast San Diego neighborhood, which has struggled to help its residents thrive. Unfortunately, access to healthy food continues to plague this community. For this reason, the Second Chance Youth Garden has served as a convenient source for fresh produce to Encanto families for the past 10 years. Produce has traditionally been sold and revenue sales have been re-invested into the program, creating a self-sustaining workforce readiness program for young adults (14-21). “For more than 13 years our shared values have allowed Sycuan and Second Chance to create positive, social impact. We are once again honored and grateful to partner with Sycuan to ensure fresh produce is available to families in need in Southeast San Diego. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need for access to healthy food, which is a foundation from which we all can build ourselves up and thrive. Because of Sycuan’s recent support, individuals in our shared community will have access to fresh food grown right in their own neighborhood!” – Bill Payne, President & CEO, Second Chance “San Diego’s East County is considered a food apartheid – a community geographically and economically isolated from healthy food options. The term “food apartheid” is more encompassing and looks at the entire food system. “Food desert” gives the false notion that areas with little access to healthy food are naturally occurring when in fact they are due to a more systemic problem. In other words, a food desert implies that a lack of affordable and fresh food is a just geographical problem. There has always been a need for access to healthy and affordable food in the Encanto neighborhood; with the arrival of COVID 19 pandemic, the need has become amplified. Since the onset of COVID-19, Second Chance has donated 3,500 pounds of produce to 134 families who lack access to affordable fresh produce.” – Caelli Wright, Youth Garden Program Coordinator, Second Chance Sycuan’s support will now be placed within the program as local families will receive emergency support and fresh produce at NO cost to them for the next ten weeks. About Second Chance Each year, more than 2,000 justice involved men, women and youth come to Second Chance seeking positive pathways to meaningful change. Second Chance offers specialized workforce readiness training, sober-living housing, educational programs and support services essential to achieving self-sufficiency. Second Chance helps provide the training and resources necessary to break the cycle of recidivism, poverty and addiction. Services are based on established best practices in the field of behavioral health and training is designed to economically empower marginalized populations through positive career pathways. For more information and to learn how you can get involved, please visit secondchanceprogram.org.