Gabrielle was born in Fresno, grew up and went to college in Southern California, and moved back to Fresno in 2014. She has worked with churches and non-profits in Fresno, where she developed an interest in Christian Community Development and what God is doing in Fresno. She has since made Fresno her home alongside her husband Jordan. She enjoys reading, traveling, and spending time with family and friends.
LivingUNDIVIDED is a 6-week cohort experience that empowers communities to change the narrative of racial justice. Communities engage in faith grounding, teaching, small group conversations, activities, and assignments in pursuit of racial solidarity and justice. LivingUNDIVIDED is designed for individuals from churches and faith-based organizations that are open and interested in exploring the intersection of faith and race.
One way that Every Neighborhood Partnership lives out our value of being a Jesus-centered organization is by having devotionals during our staff meetings and retreats. These devotionals include Scripture readings or other types of character or leadership development topics.
Isaiah 65:17-25 is a Bible passage that has long been a driving motivation for ENP’s work. We commissioned the “In Fresno as it is in Heaven” artwork based in part on this passage (you can read more about it here) and at our Fall 2022 staff retreat, we examined those verses together.
Gabrielle PicenoEntering 2023 with Applications from Isaiah 65
As 2022 comes to a close, here are some of the things our staff have read, watched, or listened to this year that have informed our work and/or personal development that we wanted to share as a resource.
Gabrielle PicenoRead, Watch, or Listen: 2022 ENP Staff Picks
From November 2nd-5th, four of our new staff members travelled to Charlotte, North Carolina for the Christian Community Development Association National Conference, where they connected with and learned from other community leaders. This year’s theme was “Wellbeing” and Economic Wellbeing, Civic Engagement & Societal Wellbeing, Congregational Wellbeing, Organizational Wellbeing, and Wholistic Wellbeing were explored.
Gabrielle PicenoWellbeing: CCDA National Conference
You are going to notice something on display in this newsletter. This is a story-driven newsletter. Stories about the ways our volunteers and staff are intersecting with people in the schools and neighborhoods that make up our wonderful city.
I am encouraged because it is the simple act of being present and willing to enter into space with one another to pursue transformation. You will also notice we have changed the name of one of our departments. With our expansion to working with 100 paid Fresno State Students through College Corp (Blog Here!) we felt like merging Literacy and Recreation all under School Support made the most sense!
Please read these stories and recognize that because of your gifts in finances, volunteer hours, and community support of ENP this work is possible.
Dominick, Isabella, Mariah, Sylvia, Jason, Ana, MJ, and Emily are all impacted because you believe and invest in us. Thank you and please don’t stop!
ENP is expanding our School Support Department with 3 new positions:
Volunteer Staff Coordinator: Oversee and manage the ENP volunteer and college staff experience from start to finish. Make sure everyone has a smooth onboarding, service experience, and off-boarding. This could include the creation of job descriptions, fingerprinting, connecting to various departments within ENP and the Fresno State Richter Center.
Extended Learning Coordinator: Manage and oversee college staff and church/community volunteers at ENP’s Extended Learning programming including Read Fresno After School intervention, Saturday Sports, and other community after school programming as needed.
This webinar includes biblical foundations, key tools and questions, as well as examples from churches and an opportunity to interact with other church leaders wrestling with their role.
Presented in English, this is an online event via zoom. Lunch is included via gift card.
Tim Soerens is the co-founding executive director of the Parish Collective (parishcollective.org) and author of the newly released, Everywhere You Look: Discovering the Church, Right Where You Are (IVP 2020) and co-author of The New Parish (IVP 2014). Along with his wife Coté, he is helping to start South Park Neighborhood Church. Tim is a co-founding owner of Resistencia Coffee, as well as the South Park Idea Lab.
Coté Soerens, – Planter, Innovator, Business Owner
Coté is a Planter and Innovator. As a neighborhood pastor, Coté has focused on discerning God’s dreams for the South Park community since 2014. This journey led her to see the neighborhood as an endless source of inspiration for community-based projects and community enterprises such as Resistencia Coffee, The Urban Fresh Food Collective, El Mercadito Farmer’s Market, The South Park Arts & Culture Collective, and South Park Neighborhood Christian Church.
Gabrielle PicenoA Church Discerning its Time and Place
Join a training on screening for Adverse Childhood Experiences and responding with trauma-informed care to mitigate the health impacts of toxic stress.
