Founded By a Single Mom, Who Wanted to Make a Difference
CDA was founded by Charlene Tressler in 1974, who through her personal struggles as a single parent, became committed to helping families. Charlene opened a small child development center at a local church in Otay Mesa, consisting of 24 children aged two to five huddled together in one classroom. Her vision of a small community preschool has evolved into what is now a multi-service nonprofit agency with over 280 employees serving more than 26,000 children across its programs. CDA is now the fourth largest Alternative Payment Program in the State of California and the largest sponsor of the Federal USDA Child Care Food Program in California.