In 1998, teachers, parents, students and community service providers came together to respond to the absence of any support services for students and their families at El Cerrito High School (ECHS). We committed to establishing a school based health center to support students to meet the challenges in their lives and be successful in school. In 1999 our health center first opened under the name: ECHS Community Project. In January 2010, after moving into our new health center in the new ECHS school building, we changed our name to the James Morehouse Project. We took James Morehouse’s name to honor his 35 years of service to the El Cerrito High School community. Mr. Morehouse loved, mentored and inspired two generations of staff and students (from 1968-2003) and in taking on his name, we commit to carrying on his legacy of love, respect and service for generations to come.
Since then, the ECHS James Morehouse Project has grown to include almost a dozen partnerships with community agencies and universities, such as:
- Bay Area Community Resources
- CA School Health Alliance
- California State University East Bay, Department of Social Work
- Community Violence Solutions
- Contra Costa County Health Services
- Girls Inc.
- The Latina Center
- Niroga Institute
- RYSE Center
- San Francisco State University, School of Social Work
- Smith College, School for Social Work
- STAND! for Families Free of Violence
- St. Mary’s College of California, Counseling Department
- University of California at Berkeley, School of Social Welfare
- The Wright Institute, Counseling Psychology Program
The use of the word “project†in our name refers to the perspective that we are a work in progress; that everyone who’s a part of the project is an important participant in the ongoing development/creation of what we are, how we work and what we offer to the ECHS community.
