ENP News

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.

School Is Starting Back Up

August 25, 2022 Desiree Sedano ENP News

Hi Volunteers and Partners,
Can you believe it’s already August?! School is starting back up this month!
You’ll notice this is no longer just a Literacy Mentor newsletter, but a whole new title and style to reflect our new combined, growing work.

We are the School Support team!

We Have a New Address!

August 11, 2022 Desiree Sedano ENP News

Every Neighborhood Partnership has been working out of the Leadership Training Center in downtown Fresno for some time now, and we are moving our official mailing address and base of operations to this location this month.

Please note our new mailing address and come visit us!
The Leadership Training Center
1719 L Street
Fresno, CA 93721

We have some costs associated with moving and getting office equipment set up (we print a lot of stuff!!!) at The Leadership Training Center.

Consider donating to ENP to help with these costs today!

Donate

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.

Housing In Fresno

July 1, 2022 Desiree Sedano ENP News

ENP is a part of the Mayor’s Faith-Based Council. Recently the Mayor, Deputy Mayor, Planning Department, and several local community-based organizations shared on the Fresno housing crisis. We need churches, community members, and organizations to think creatively and proactively to create more housing. We encourage you to read the presentation and various stories of communities’ responses to this national problem. We believe God cares about all folks and wants everyone to have a safe place to rest. We invite you to consider how you can be a part of the solution.

Central Fresno Neighborhood Trust Project

Pocketeer Program

Volunteer to build a Pocket Shelter for a local Homeless Rescue Mission.

Click here to register to work.

*** Due to heat and an extremely busy factory, The Pocketeer Team will be postponed until the fall. We very much appreciate your willingness to spend a Saturday working to provide housing for the homeless in your community. We look forward to seeing you in the fall! ***

Housing Strategy

“An Inclusive, Prosperous, Beautiful City where people Take Pride in their Neighborhoods and Community. A Government that Listens, Keeps its Promises, and is Owned by the People – We Work For You”
– One Fresno Vision

Resources

Housing: Congregational Resources and Models

David Lewicki: Called to the ministry of affordable housing.

Yes in God’s Back Yard wants to build homes for those most in need of them.

Affordable housing rises where a church building once stood.

Houses of faith are building affordable housing on their properties.

Developing Affordable Housing Through Faith-Based Partnerships.

Movement to build affordable housing on church land reaches Florida.

Untapped Potential Between Faith and Housing.

Opinion: Survey of Palo Alto faith leaders points to new affordable housing possibilities.

Juneteenth LivingUNDIVIDED Celebration

June 15, 2022 andrewfeil ENP News

Join ENP in celebrating Juneteenth with LivingUNDIVIDED! Join us Monday, June 20, 9:00-10:30am.

Juneteenth is a symbolic representation of the change that can be made when we come together. We celebrate and recognize the important place it has in our national history and on our federal calendar because we know God’s heart for Jubilee.

The time for action is now! LivingUNDIVIDED Summer and Fall cohorts aren’t too far off and this is the time for you to be the hero your community needs. Use your influence to rally some people together for the LivingUNDIVIDED or WorkingUNDIVIDED experiences. When you’re interested in talking to someone about hosting a cohort, let us know. My team is at the ready to walk alongside you as you lead others toward racial healing, solidarity and justice.

2022 Summer Resources

May 26, 2022 Sabrina Rodarte ENP News

Are your kids looking for something to do this summer? Check out this page full of summer learning resources, summer camps, and other fun activities that they will love!

Reading and Learning

Fresno County Library events and competitions:

Summer at the Library Events

Fresno Unified:

Summer Camps
Sora App – online reading access for Fresno Unified students:
Summer School Sites (reach out to your child’s school site to enroll):

Online Learning Site Resources:

Online Summer Learning Camps
Heidi Songs – high frequency word songs
ENP Read Alouds – books read by mentors
Education.com – sight word games
ABCya – sight word games and more!
Arbolabc.com – Español
Starfall – books and games by grade level, Kinder-3rd grade!
Online Books – see our newsletter for links to many different sites that have free resources
Flocabulary – create a “Free Trial” account and get access to many reading lessons that include videos and pdfs
Valley PBS – watch local Fresno Unified teachers and use some of their ideas or watch the videos live with your student

Book Bins Map

Little Free Libraries Map

Summer Activities

City of Fresno:

Search online for camps, classes, etc OR call 559-621-PLAY (7529) OR follow on Facebook

Camp Fresno:

Free Summer Camps for 1,000 youth ages 8-17 years old. Sign up here Interest form.

PAID Summer Camps in Fresno:

Martin Park VBS:

Online Search Tool for upcoming kid events:

Planet Fitness:

Planet Fitness is offering free workouts for high school teen students all summer 2022. Click for more information.

Do you know of any other kid activities happening in Fresno this summer? Email us at info@everyneighborhood.org and we’ll add them to this list!

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 our daily calendar, enroll in CalFresh, or sign-up for a pick-up.

Food Locator: Find food distribution partners near you.

Food Distribution Calendar: Find Neighborhood Markets, Mobile Pantries, and USDA Commodities partners by date.

Groceries 2 Go: Schedule a pick-up appointment at our Groceries 2 Go location Monday – Friday (7am-4pm) or at one of our satellite locations near you (hours vary by location). Schedule Appointment Here

Need help enrolling in CalFresh: Our CalFresh team can help!

Enroll in CalFresh

Neighborhood News – May Update

May 25, 2022 Gabrielle Piceno ENP News

Hello ENP Family & Friends,

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!

Give here to continue this work.

Executive Director, Every Neighborhood Partnership

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.

Register for One Small Step

May 5, 2022 andrewfeil Events, Perspectives

If you are like me, you sense a growing divide in our country, state, and cities. We are at each other’s throats!

ENP has always been about the work of creating spaces for people from various backgrounds to cross paths, build relationships, and co-create the community that we want to live in.

ENP and StoryCorps welcomes residents in the Fresno/Central Valley area to apply to be matched with fellow residents from across the political divide for conversations about their lives – not about politics – through One Small Step. The conversation invites two people who don’t know each other—and may not think they have anything in common—to take a moment to discover their shared humanity. Let’s heal our community one courageous conversation at a time.