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 and their son. She enjoys reading, traveling, and spending time with family and friends.
Afghan Refugees have begun moving to Fresno and there are several ways individuals and churches or groups can welcome and support our new neighbors. Check out the opportunities below!
From November 10-13, several of our staff members attended the Christian Community Development Association National Conference in Kansas City, Missouri. This year’s theme was “Reimagine” and we explored with practitioners from across the country questions like, “What is God calling us to reimagine in our community for His glory?
ENP’s Neighborhood Health and Wellness team has been hard at work this year with launching new programs and expanding current ones! Read our Impact Report of our Promotora/Community Health Worker program carried out in partnership with FCHIP (Fresno Community Health Improvement Partnership) to learn more about the strives for holistic health being taken in our community.
*This report is taken from the PEARS Success Story ID 23330
In partnership with the Fresno County Department of Public Health (FCDPH) and Every Neighborhood Partnership (ENP), the Central Valley Health Policy Institute (CVHPI) has conducted a series of interviews with Latin Dance instructors before the COVID-19 pandemic and shortly after the shelter-in-place mandate was lifted. The initial interviews conducted in 2019 were aimed at understanding how the program has expanded, identifying challenges, and linking the program to resources. There were nine (n=9) Latin Dance instructors who were interviewed and provided input on these topics. Shortly thereafter, the pandemic struck and the opportunity to report findings back to the community was put to a halt. In the month of June 2021, follow-up interviews were conducted with the Latin Dance instructors to assess the current state of the project and how best to move forward. A total of five interviews were conducted with the Latin Dance instructors. On June 30th, 2021, the CVHPI met with the FCDPH, ENP, and the Latin Dance instructors who were interviewed to report back findings and ensure that all ideas were captured. The following is a summary of both findings from all interviews as well as topics that came forward during fruitful discussions with the Latin Dance instructors.
Searching to make a difference this year? Read Fresno with ENP works to raise the reading and academic abilities of local elementary school students each year. Read Fresno is now recruiting qualified students for the 2021-22 academic year to serve as mentors. If you qualify, you could earn up to $15.00 per hour. Mentors work approximately 10-15 hours per week, based on work-study eligibility. In order to qualify for one of these openings, you must:
New applicants to the program: Read Fresno Mentor Applications-NEW
Returning applicants to the program: Read Fresno Mentor Application-RETURNER
Priority applications will be accepted online until Friday, June 25. Applicants selected to move forward will be contacted for a one-on-one interview via Zoom between Monday, June 28-Friday, July 16.
As summer approaches, we wanted to share free and low-cost summer resources and activities for kids from some of our partners.
Trained and equipped Literacy Mentors meet one-on-one virtually with K-3rd grade students to help them with their foundational reading skills and sight words. Sign up using one of the links below:
School Libraries will be open to the public at all summer school locations. Find summer school sites HERE.
Students in Fresno Unified School District can use the Sora App for online reading access
The Fresno County Library has free summer reading programs and activities for kids, teens, and adults. Click HERE for more information and a calendar of events.
Find a Book Bin or Little Free Library near you and exchange a book!
High-quality digital tools for kids that are both educational and entertaining.
Share Wide Open School in English or Spanish with families to help them find activities.
Starting the week of June 15th, the City of Fresno will be offering Free 3-day overnight camps. While they hope to open camp to current youth leaders, they are particularly interested in also opening to the most vulnerable. They are most eager to provide the opportunity to teens who perhaps would never have had a chance to experience an outdoor camp; or perhaps those who have made some bad choices in life and an outdoor experience like this might impact their lives positively. Complete the interest form below:
Fresno PARCS offers a variety of activities for kids. Some of these activities have a cost associated with them. To learn more and register, visit their website.
Activities include Youth Sports and Virtual Programs.
You can also visit their Facebook page for upcoming events and activities.
Martin Park is hosting 7 weeks of VBS CAMP to reach kids with the Gospel!
They have partnered with Child Evangelism Fellowship, First Presbyterian, River Park Bible Church, Children’s Champion and The Well to facilitate a VBS CAMP for one week at a time.
VBS Camp will run from June 14th-July 30th on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, from 3pm-5pm. Dinner will be provided each night at 4:30 for children and volunteers!
On the 3rd week (June 28-July 2) they will take kids to VBS at River Park Bible Church.
On the 6th week (July 12-16) they will take kids to City Bible Adventure at First Presbyterian Church.
Each day the kids will participate in singing, lessons, craft and games.
Call 559-554-4319 to sign up!
Search fresnocountyfood.org for free food near you.
Central California Food Bank is here to help you get access to the food you need. To find a food distribution near you, utilize the daily calendar, enroll in CalFresh, or sign-up for a pick-up.
Consider hosting a Summer Learning Program! Hear tips and plans from our partners by watching the webinar recording HERE.
College students have been a big part of our work for many years. Through serving with ENP, they are able to give back to our community, gain valuable experience, and put their studies into practice. Win all around! This year we especially relied on college students as they had the capacity and knowledge to support our online programming!
Huge applause to each one of these seniors who is graduating from Fresno State this weekend!
Here are some quotes from graduating seniors on what they learned from their exerience with ENP as a whole.
“I learned that students really enjoyed having someone to talk with and they cherished that 30 minutes. They looked forward to those days even if they didn’t always want to do their sight words…This really showed a resilience in the students and I actually got to learn from them not just them learning from me. This whole experience during a pandemic really put into perspective the importance of literacy mentors and the important work that ENP does by giving volunteers an opportunity to make a difference and see a difference in the students they work with.” – Angelica Torres
“I learned to take leadership in my mentoring skills and support students who need help on academia.” – Chong Hang
“I am learning how to communicate with younger kids and how to create curriculum that best supports their needs. I am also learning how to be comfortable with communicating with parents. I think this is really valuable for me because it prepares me to work with kids in my future profession!” – Gwyneth Quitorio
“As a whole through my experience I learned that for my future career I want to work with kids. I learned how to be patient with students and how to adjust to their learning to get them to being more engaged.” – Cyenna Garrett
Angela Barrera
Angelica Torres
Ashley Moreno
Devin Arguelles
Gao Joua Moua
Gwyneth Quitorio
Isamara Lopez
Kiera White
Milca Gutierrez
Ryan Rendahl
Cyenna Garrett
Leslie Hernandez
Madison Herron
Alejandra Lopez
Andrea Rivera Maranon
Chong Hang
Coraima Godinez
Stephanie Gonzales
Matthew De Leon
Alex Valdez
Kathryn Orozco
Michelle Pinal
“It has been one of the most impactful and rewarding experiences of my life. Through this opportunity
of teaching, I ended up learning a lot myself. This opportunity opened my eyes to a greater need
in my community and now more than ever I want to dedicate my time and efforts to make as
many positive impacts in my community as I can.” – Ashley Moreno
ENP is partnering with AmeriCorps VIP to hire a full-time, one-year temporary Literacy Mentor Coordinator.
The Literacy Mentor Coordinator will work with volunteers and support the Literacy Mentor Director and Read Fresno Coordinator.
For more information and instructions for applying, read the Literacy Mentor Coordinator Job Description AND the AmeriCorps VIP Member Position Description.
ENP Promotoras, or Community Health Workers, have been hosting a weekly Women’s Support Group. In putting together the topics for the groups, they ask the attendees what they would like to hear about. One of the topics the women have asked for is “home remedies.” Johanna, one of the Promotoras, shared resources of traditional home remedies with which she was familiar.
Mondays and Wednesdays from February 8 – March 4 ENP staff members Suzzy Pinal and Angie Conde led ENP’s first Spanish digital literacy class. COVID-19 has highlighted the need for basic training in computers and technology, especially among our Spanish-speaking neighbors. For 4 weeks, 12-30 students met over zoom to learn basic computer skills. The excitement as new skills were learned was palpable and the instructors enjoyed watching the students’ eyes light up as they understood new things.
All of the participants said they would recommend the course to a friend and many are eager to re-take the course to become more comfortable with their device. Some participants even bought a computer after going through the session, feeling more comfortable in their ability to navigate it. Below is some of the feedback from the post-course survey.
