When Escobedo returned home in 1985, she couldn't believe what she saw. The quiet, friendly Carlsbad neighborhood where she had spent her early adulthood had vastly deteriorated. Most people would have been sad and walked away. She did something about it. She created the Barrio Carlsbad Association, petitioned the city for help and, with the help of other concerned residents, spent years turning the neighborhood around.
People say our neighborhood is a friendly place with nice families.
People feel safe and comfortable here. As executive director of the Vista Community Clinic, Mannino created the Fund for Moms, a program to help poor women get health care that has been replicated throughout the country. I saw a TV show about an economic aid organization that gave out micro-loans to poor women in small Third World countries that had a 100 percent repayment rate. Though the Fund for Moms, women in need are loaned the money to see a doctor and they pay it back in small monthly payments. The clinic now boasts a 99 percent repayment rate.