Ed Becerra Visits Villa Storia Apartments to Share the Importance of Reading at Home

OCEANSIDE, CA – On February 11, 2026, Edward "Ed" Becerra, of Education Begins in the Home (EBH), visited our residents in Villa Storia Apartments in Oceanside to share his 11-year journey of bringing books to children.

Ed's mission began after he learned about the significant literacy gap among Latino youth in May 2015. In an effort to bridge the gap, Ed founded Education Begins in the Home, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that provides free books to the youth of North San Diego County. Since its inception, EBH has given out over 176,500 free books in nearly 700 public events. EBH primarily focuses on partnering with elementary schools to encourage children at an early age to appreciate and recognize the importance of reading. During these visits, Ed brings books of all levels for the public to take, free of charge, while talking with parents and kids about the importance of reading at home.

Ed and EBH attribute their vast library of books to distribute throughout North San Diego County by garnering ongoing support from key volunteers, libraries, schools, and civic groups. Ed has given back to communities and contributed to libraries, school districts, and even authors, especially Empowering Latino Futures (ELF) authors. As part of the Board of Directors for ELF, Ed continues to promote and support authors to write and publish books about Latinos and Latino culture.

During his visit to Villa Storia Apartments, he shared his journey with a presentation and Q&A session tailored towards the community's parents. Residents of all ages were interested to hear his story.

"I wanted to get the parents and kids together for an afternoon session of information about reading at home; the value and benefits of reading at home," shared Marta Arroyo, Villa Storia's PSCDC Resident Services Coordinator. "The residents at Villa Storia and I are so proud of Mr. Becerra's mission as he has limitless generosity with books."

After the presentation, Ed gave five books to each child and adult in attendance! All of the Villa Storia families were gratefully thanking him for their new beautiful books. One of the young residents even wrote a thank-you card for Ed, thanking him for his presentation and saying that she and her family enjoyed his presentation. Along with new books, San Diego PSCDC Assistant Director of Services Fatema Neromand also distributed some new toys which were a surplus from last year's successful Toys for Tots campaign.

PSCDC would like to thank Ed Becerra and Education Begins in the Home for visiting our residents, and reinforcing the importance of reading within our Villa Storia community!