“This is Amy, the Saturday Sports Coordinator for ENP.”
You’ve probably read that if you’ve ever gotten an email from me. Since I am relatively new here (hired in August ‘18), I would bet that a majority of those reading have no idea who I am. Hopefully, some have at least seen me out and about leading an SS Orientation or assisting our staff at equipping events. The majority of what I do for ENP is coordinating Saturday Sports volunteers, leading out SS Orientations, and the planning and paperwork to keep SS organized. However, I also facilitate our Social Emotional hand-drumming program, Beat the Odds, at a couple of schools around Fresno. This is work that, sadly, most people don’t get to witness.
Music, movement, fitness, and fun! When you go into a Latin Dance Fitness class you can expect to have fun and break a good sweat. What you don’t expect are the relationships that are built through time spent in the class. With common interests such as the love of music, dance, and exercise, there are so many ways to connect with others. Not only that, but dance fitness is an outlet for mental wellness. Most participants are able to share the happiness they feel while taking the class and are worry free during the hour long session. This one hour of dancing allows them to take care of themselves physically and mentally. It is also a shared space with others who have the same fitness goal.
Jennifer SaldivarRelationships Through Dance Fitness
ENP was birthed out of a church-school partnership which is why most people only know of ENP through church connections. But did you know that ENP also has the unique opportunity to impact our next generation of leaders through partnerships with Fresno State and Fresno City? Getting our college students involved on local elementary school campuses not only furthers our elementary students’ growth, but it also impacts the future careers, hearts, and direction of our young adult leaders.
Jenessa CheemaCollege and Elementary Students Working Together
Every Neighborhood Partnership was created 11 years ago to help connect, train, and mobilize our local churches and other community assets to actively serve, on a weekly basis, in our elementary schools and neighborhoods. At this stage of our work, we currently have 51 active partnerships in the 92 elementary school neighborhoods of Fresno.
Weekly you’ll see these volunteers in classrooms helping our kids learn how to read, engaging in recreational activities during recess, assisting in after-school programs, opening gates at schools on Saturday mornings so kids and adults can enjoy some fun, and working with residents as they serve and advocate for their own neighborhoods.
ENP believes that the core of a city’s health is the health of our youth, families, and neighborhoods. When it comes down to it, ENP is simply mobilizing our community so they can serve their very own neighborhoods.
As we’ve witnessed over the last few years, our national and statewide civic engagement and political norms seem to be deteriorating. Some would say it’s gotten out of control with negative messaging. Some say that’s our new normal. It now seems to be the way local politics is headed, less about how someone can be a local leader of positive influence and more about how horrible their opponent is.
andrewfeilArtie’s Thoughts on Measure P and Community Leadership
Every Neighborhood Partnership is partnering with the Luis Palau National group to create a six-month series that describes our work in the city. Below is the fifth post in the series from our Associate Director, Andrew Feil.
Last month, Jenessa Hefler broke down ENP’s Literacy Mentoring program. This month we will look at equipping the church and the diverse ways to empower disciples.
Education.
What mental image comes to mind? For most of us, it is the classroom. But what kind of classroom? Again for most of us, the students are in rows facing a teacher. Can I be so bold as to suggest that this model is a bit broken?
Sure it is what we know and for many of us who love and serve the church it is how we personally like to learn, but my time at Every Neighborhood Partnership (ENP) and in the city of Fresno has taught me three valuable lessons that I would love to share with you that will dramatically improve your training and equipping events.
Adults learn by interacting with ideas. (Pssst… don’t just lecture)
As we begin thinking about equipping the church and training the body of Christ to carry God’s redemptive message forward into our communities we have to be more thoughtful about the best way to do that. So a simple question. How do adults learn best?
andrewfeilLuis Palau Series 5: Equipping the Church, More Than Just a Bible Study
First off, we want to say thank you for being a part of our 2nd annual Fall in Love with Fresno Banquet. With 300 people in attendance and completely engaged in the evening’s events, it was a great night of sharing our story and hearing all the great things that God has done in our city!
It was a blessing to fellowship with our longtime supporters as well welcome new friends who will hopefully join in ENP’s mission to serve. We are truly honored to announce that through the kind donations of our sponsor’s, we were able to raise a total of $60,194!!! Through your giving, we were able to double the amount that we raised from last year.
We are truly grateful for all the support that we have received we know that great things are in store! To all of our sponsors, we want to say thank you for your kind contributions.
If you feel like you still want to contribute there is still time! Click here to donate and select 2018 Banquet and give.
On behalf of all the staff at ENP, we want to say thank you for all that you do to help fulfill the purpose that is before us.
If you would like to be a part of our next fall banquet, feel free to contact Javier Garza at: javier@everyneighborhood.org.
Play the Game!
Challenge your co-workers or family to a fun game about Fresno and the work that ENP does!
Apparently, Bob Nelson knows something about Fresno! 😉 Congrats on the win and the Fall in Love T-Shirt! You can buy your own here!
We showed this video during the Kahoot game, but we thought you might want to take a second look.
Neighborhood Development creates place-based strategies that lead to self-sustainability, empowerment, and leadership development with residents and strategic partners to positively impact their communities.
Discovering what people care about the most is the key to making our neighborhoods a healthier and better place to live!
Thanks for being a part of this work we can’t do it without your support!
Every day, teachers and school administrators walk onto their school campuses and encounter kids who are struggling with academic difficulties and behavioral issues. But there is hope, and sometimes it comes in unexpected forms. For a class of fifth graders at Heaton Elementary School, implementing Beat the Odds, a social-emotional drumming program, has been instrumental in creating life change.
Please join us for an evening celebrating the great work being done in our community. Our ten years of work has allowed us to build trust in the community, our churches, businesses, and other institutions. As we lean into our 11th year, we can reflect back and see that ENP looks different than it did at its inception in 2008. We are proud of that. As life changes, communities change, and therefore we glean a deeper understanding of our city. We hope with each passing year our community is in a better place to thrive, our kids are excelling and our families are healthier in many ways.
Please note that a percentage of this sponsorship will go to Eventbrite as a fee. If you would prefer that your full donation goes directly to ENP, select the payment by check option upon checkout or contact Javier Garza at (559) 908-3538 or email javier@everyneighborhood.org.
