Ashley Goldsmith

Our Vision is Growing! Learn more and Fall in Love with Fresno on September 22.

September 6, 2022 Ashley Goldsmith ENP News, Equipping, Serving Our Neighborhoods, Serving Our Schools

Learn more about Every Neighborhood Partnership’s growing vision and important things taking place in our city at our Fall in Love with Fresno event on September 22.

Over the last 14 years, Every Neighborhood Partnership (ENP) has been on a growth trajectory. Yes, our staff and programs are growing, but so is our vision.

ENP began as an organization focused on helping churches connect relationally with schools in central Fresno. Over time, with God’s guidance and the support of incredible partners, we have expanded our vision to equipping and mobilizing residents to be leaders who have the tools they need to make sustainable, long-lasting change in their neighborhoods.

Communities are being changed from the inside out.

Through literacy mentoring at elementary schools, Saturday Sports camps, Latin Dance Fitness classes, women’s support groups, workshops and coaching for other nonprofit leaders, and neighborhood associations, our vision is growing… and it involves YOU too.

Join us on September 22nd to learn more and celebrate the GROWING taking place in our city at ENP’s annual Fall in Love with Fresno event! You won’t want to miss this.

Our Voice Project: Residents Speak Up in Forgotten Fresno Neighborhoods

August 2, 2022 Ashley Goldsmith Community Outreach, Economic Development, ENP News, Neighborhood Presence, Serving Our Neighborhoods

“This is where I live. This is where my legacy is. This is where my children’s legacy is. It’s gonna be here when we’re not. So what footprints are we gonna leave?”
~Sharon Williams, Southwest Fresno Resident

Cracked roads and poor health conditions are prevalent in southwest Fresno, one of the highest poverty-stricken and environmentally-at-risk areas in California. In fact, the life expectancy for west Fresno residents was projected to be 69 years old, over 20 years less than those living in northeast Fresno.

In 2018, a group of Southwest Fresno residents were engaged in a project conducted by UC Berkeley and California Walks to make safety improvements along California Avenue and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. During this assessment, residents Sylvia Trujilo, Vittoria Molina, Christina Sidhu, and Sharon Williams shared their input on what projects would be most beneficial for their children and neighbors. These women’s participation in the assessment led to meaningful, positive change in a part of Fresno where people often felt hopeless, unsafe, or forgotten. But then, the California Walks project ended.

Sylvia, Vittoria, Christina, and Sharon were not ready to lose the momentum they had built. For the first time, they recognized their voices as powerful tools to create a safer, healthier neighborhood for their families. “As a group, we became the caretakers of what we had started with California Walks,” says Sylvia. “We wanted to continue to see change. At that point we were like, how do we keep that going?”

Daniel Dominguez, Every Neighborhood Partnership’s Neighborhood Development Coordinator, learned about these residents’ desire to continue advocating for positive change in their community. Daniel began facilitating a weekly meeting with these individuals. Out of these gatherings, a neighborhood association in southwest Fresno was born: Our Voice Project.

How One Woman’s Love for Reading Initiated a Lasting School-Church Partnership

July 12, 2022 Ashley Goldsmith Campus Presence, Literacy, Serving Our Schools

Ayer Elementary School & Butler Church: How the Partnership Began

Since she was a little girl, Debra Brensinger has loved reading. Under the protection of her covers, she would squint her eyes as she read late into the night.

Several decades later, Debra was looking for ways to be more involved in her local community. When Debra heard about Every Neighborhood Partnership’s Literacy Mentoring program, she knew she wanted to serve as a mentor. Sharing her passion for reading by teaching elementary students literacy skills seemed like the perfect way to invest in her neighborhood.

But Debra didn’t stop there.

60 NEW Positions Available for Students to Make a Difference while Paying for College

May 18, 2022 Ashley Goldsmith ENP News, Jobs, Literacy, Saturday Sports, Serving Our Schools

Fresno State and Every Neighborhood Partnership Collaborate to Launch #CaliforniansForAll College Corps Program

Through a new State initiative, Every Neighborhood Partnership will host 60 Fresno State students (in addition to 40 Read Fresno students) who will serve as literacy mentors in classrooms, run after-school reading intervention programs, and support Saturday Sports at eight local K-12 schools.

The #CaliforniansforAll College Corps initiative is the first of its kind, designed to create opportunities for low-income, first-generation college students to graduate college debt-free while empowering them to serve in their communities. College Corps Fellows will receive up to $10,000 for a total of 450 hours of community service hours during the academic year.

Fresno State was chosen as one of the 48 partner colleges for the College Corps program and has selected Every Neighborhood Partnership as one of the organizations their students will work with.

Students who complete the College Corps program will receive:

$10,000 ($7,000 living stipend broken into monthly distributions during the academic year, plus a $3,000 Education Award)
Academic credit
Real-world job experience to add to a resume
Training, networking and professional development opportunities

The first cohort of College Corps Fellows will begin in August 2022. Applications will be accepted until all positions are filled. Learn more and apply to be a College Corps Fellow by visiting the Central Valley College Corps website here or contacting Mellissa Jessen-Hiser at mjessen@csufresno.edu.

New Project Aims to Combat Unhealthy Conditions in Southwest Fresno

April 23, 2022 Ashley Goldsmith ENP News, Serving Our Neighborhoods

In 2012, a Fresno State study led by Dr. John Capitman found that residents living in Southwest Fresno live roughly twenty years less than those in wealthier parts of the city. The issues contributing to this disparity are complex, multi-faceted, and interconnected. Two of these factors, environmental hazards and limited access to nutritious foods, have produced exceptionally poor health conditions for residents of this neighborhood.

Southwest Fresno families must travel outside of the community to access quality produce. This required travel contributes to Southwest Fresno being one of the unhealthiest air quality regions in the Fresno metropolitan area. A lack of access to healthy, readily-available food contributes to significant and detrimental health effects such as obesity, diabetes, asthma, and autoimmune disorders.

Southwest Holistic Health Project

Through the Southwest Holistic Health Project, Every Neighborhood Partnership (ENP) is working to address these issues.

The Southwest Holistic Health Project’s objective is to improve the overall health and well-being of residents by reducing greenhouse gas emissions through local, quality food options. Providing further access points to healthy fruits and vegetables will allow residents to travel by vehicle less, thus reducing the carbon footprint and increasing the life expectancy of residents in Southwest Fresno. The project involves two key components: 1) the development of community gardens and 2) education on food insecurity and healthy eating. ENP has received a $75,000 grant through the Environmental Justice Collaborative Problem-Solving Cooperative Agreement Program to carry out a demonstration program which will launch the Southwest Holistic Health Project.

Ashley Goldsmith