What is Embrace:

Embrace is a nonprofit organization rooted in organizing college students to aid less fortunate members of civilian and military veteran communities. Embrace was established in 2000 by CEO Sean Sheppard. The programs are designed to connect college student leaders to San Diego’s multi-cultural communities in the areas of social and physical wellness through service learning and volunteering. The organization is built on the philosophy that serving less fortunate members of society brings people together – regardless of their race, religion or cultural upbringing.

How Embrace became a Reality:

Before Embrace became incorporated in the state of California in 2003, Sean Sheppard was walking down a path of self-destruction. As it turns out, the road to ruin did not end in devastation. Could it be because that road was paved with good intentions that were already paying off? Or maybe it’s because he began to realize that doing the best you can with what you have is what makes giving back such a gift.

Like many of us, Sheppard is a sum of his conflicting parts. He is originally from Brooklyn, NY and was raised in South Brunswick, N.J. His parents were divorced by the time he was 10 years old which impacted him greatly. His father was a Vietnam War combat veteran (Army) during the Tet Offensive period and he was raised by a strict single mother. He attended a Catholic school from grade school all through high school and spent the majority of his summers at a day camp that was 99% Jewish. He is a graduate of the prestigious Georgetown University where he played football and threw the javelin and held down as many as 4 jobs at a time while earning a masters degree at San Diego State University. After a career as a Strength and Conditioning Coach that began at San Diego State and included subsequent stops at Kansas State University, Boston College and Ohio State University, Sheppard returned to San Diego. Upon his return he held several positions which included serving asa regional manager for a dot com company and consulting for a community health clinic.

He served as the Urban Marketing Consultant for the San Diego Padres while continuing to get Embrace on more solid ground. Sheppard was doing right by the San Diego communities, but his personal life was full of drinking, drugs, and promiscuity. He continued his crusade until 2008 when he decided to make some serious changes. He started attending The Rock Church and rededicated himself to the nonprofit that is now his full-time job.

Sheppard’s experiences of being a team sport athlete and working in the worlds of big time collegiate athletics and professional sports allowed him to come to the following conclusion: People are people, no matter their gender, religion or color, and we all share the same dreams, heartbreak and victories. It’s simply a matter of exposure for each of us to realize it.

“While playing and coaching team sports, I quickly realized that athletes set aside all their differences, be it race, religion or sexual orientation, to come together to work toward a common goal. They learn from one another and befriend one another during the process. It’s beautiful to see. I thought, ‘How can I get people who don’t participate in team sports to come together on a regular basis?’ “When Embrace started serving the homeless, I noticed how diverse our volunteers were. I literally saw Muslim students supporting Christian students. Asian, Latino, white and black college student volunteers kept coming back to serve an identically diversity population in need together. I saw no boundaries.” I thought, ‘That’s it. It’s happening. People who differ demographically are working together and looking after one another in the same manner as team sports.’

SERVING OUR MILITARY VETERANS

With a central purpose of bring people together, Embrace’s premiere program, Healing Our Heroes’ Homes, mobilizes volunteer contractors and volunteer college students to remodel the homes od disabled veteran homeowners. The organization hosts 2 annual events that raise money to support the program. One event called Ex 4 Vets. Ex 4 Vets is going on its 6th year. (www.Ex4Vets. org) Led by fitness expert Cindy Whitmarsh and her team of fitness professionals, Ex 4 Vets is an annual event. This year it takes place on Saturday April 9th at 10am at the SDSU Student Union. This one hour bootcamp/ kickboxing workout focuses on raising money to support Embrace well as create awareness to support our disabled veterans. Fundraising teams that represents student organizations, military/veterans or religious organizations keep 50% the net funds they raise. The event has given approximately $40,000 back to the aforementioned groups over the past 4 years.

The 2nd event is called Stretch for Vets (www.Stretch4Vets.org) and is sponsored by CorePower Yoga. Stretch 4 Vets is a 75 minute yoga session held on the USS Midway. The date of this event is Sunday November 20th and begins at 8am.

Each event hosts anywhere between 200- 1000 participants. Money raised from the two venues goes to support H3 – Healing Our Heroes’ Homes (www.Embrace1.org/h3), a program that mobilizes college student volunteers to completely remodel the homes of disabled veterans. On a modest budget, the organization has remodeled 10 homes in 4 years and provided $640,000 in labor and materials in the process. Through partnerships with volunteer general contractors, Home Depot Foundation and San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) among others, college student volunteers assist in building wheel chair ramps, painting, replacing carpet, creating ADA compliant kitchens and bathrooms, addressing plumbing needs and creating Greener, more energy efficient homes for disabled veterans, while helping them regain their sense of independence.

For more information on how to get involved with Embrace, Ex4Vets, and Stretch4vets visit the websites listed in the article or email Embrace at:
Embrace@Embrace1.org

2012-2015 Embrace Community Impact
People Served: 39,537
Total Volunteers: 7,124
Total Volunteer Hours: 17,367
Total Value of service to Community: $763,761

By Carolyn Erickson