Parent Groups

Wednesday, May 21, 2025

6:30 - 7:30 pm

** This meeting is on ZOOM**
All Parents and Young Adults welcome!

TOPIC
Transportation 101

Join us for our first NFAR Parent discussion on all things transportation! We’ll be discussing:

- Transportation and mobility resources in San Diego

- What to do when you’re interested in using mass transit

- Pronto and Youth Opportunity passes

- Mass transit safety and mobility training

- What to do if someone wants to learn to drive?

GUEST SPEAKERS:
Carol A. Lewis, Program Manager for the El Cajon Collaborative and Little House Family Resource Center

Carol is Program Manager for the El Cajon Collaborative and Little House Family Resource Center where she brings together social service agencies, community and faith-based organizations and county programs to build relationships, leverage resources and promote best practices to enhance the quality of life for families and seniors in El Cajon and East County.

For the past fifteen years, Ms. Lewis has been involved with SANDAG, first with Mountain Empire Collaborative and now representing El Cajon for the past eleven years. She is contracted to act as a liaison between SANDAG and the communities they represent. As a community-based organization (CBO), they work with other CBOs to ensure social equity is written into every project and that the public has input on the four-year Regional Plan.

Ms. Lewis has also worked with HHSA-Aging & Independent Services to develop transit training for seniors through a grant with the San Diego Foundation and through Mental Health America to provide training for newcomers to our community on how to use the various options for transportation. All of the training classes have been provided in several languages to meet the unique needs of the residents she serves.

Elyse Simakaski, SDSU Research Foundation

Elyse Simakaski recently graduated from San Diego State University with a Bachelor's in Psychology, and currently works for the SDSU Research Foundation under Dr. Mary Baker Ericzen. She also serves as a facilitator and driving coach for the D.R.I.V.E and Thrive Program at the Intricate Mind Institute. Elyse will be providing information about the Driving program for those interested in learning more about driving.