Blog for Every Neighborhood Partnership (ENP)

Healthy Neighborhoods are a Community

November 6, 2017 andrewfeil Serving Our Neighborhoods

Healthy neighborhoods foster and create a sense of community. These neighborhoods utilize the skills and assets of those that are a part of them. Our goal at ENP is to be a part of creating and supporting healthier neighborhoods.

Unfortunately, many neighborhoods in our city are not healthy. People and institutions are disconnected and distrustful of each other. Relationships become transactional instead of transformational.

As we seek to serve others in the city and be a part of neighborhood transformation, we realize that we need to build a new form of community. Communities that can combat the complex problems that affect our neighborhoods.

This idea is most easily understood through an example:

Say your church begins serving in a neighborhood and you realize that access to food there is an issue. So you start a food pantry. The church is very excited about this, and many members drop off food to pass out. Several members even volunteer to lead the pantry. But, since you are holistically minded, as you begin the project you open your eyes, start asking questions, and thru listening to others, you realize that…

Community Supporting School

November 1, 2017 Artie Padilla Serving Our Schools

Every Neighborhood Partnership constantly works to build support for our local elementary schools. When launched in 2008, our primary goal was to partner a church with every elementary school in Fresno and Clovis. We knew that churches had the capacity to truly make a difference with our kids, school staffs and families. This has proven true.

Yet, we soon realized that there were other stakeholders in our community that could add even more support to both our schools and neighborhoods.

Loving Your Neighbor – 2 Free Resources!

October 20, 2017 andrewfeil Neighborhood Presence

There is a growing movement across our nation to something that is both incredibly simple yet extremely difficult. Loving Your Neighbor.

It is one of the two key commands Jesus gave, but in our mobile 21st-century context we have lost the art of loving (or even knowing) our literal next door neighbors. God has uniquely created you and placed you to be His connection to a disconnected world. You are sent by God to be a light to your neighbors.

Several local churches have created resources that they want to make available to you to help make this happen!

Hope Does: Transforming Local Schools In Ways No One Else Can

October 12, 2017 andrewfeil Serving Our Schools

This post first appeared on CareLeader.org, October 11, 2017, here.

We interviewed Mike Tenbusch, author of The Jonathan Effect: Helping Kids and Schools Win the Battle Against Poverty. He shares from his experiences how churches can partner with their local schools and become a positive, proactive influence for change.

5 Fun Saturday Sports Activities! (Oct 2017)

October 10, 2017 Brian Semsem Saturday Sports

Hey Saturday Sports Leaders & Volunteers!

At our last 20/Twenty event, I committed to trying to send out five new game ideas each month. Some of these activities you may already be familiar with and some may be new ones!

My hope is that we are sharing new game and activities ideas with each other so that we can Build A Saturday Sports Learning Community! In this community, we continue to develop and grow each of our Saturday Sports ministries.

4 Reasons To Sign Up For CityScope

September 14, 2017 andrewfeil Equipping

CityScope 2017 is quickly approaching. I want to give you 4 reasons you should sign up today…

God’s Calling… Reasons and Encouragement to Answer

September 11, 2017 Becca Gottselig Neighborhood Presence

Have you ever had a feeling that you’re being called to something? Something that might be beneficial (for you, for your community, for your family, for God’s Kingdom, etc.), but something that might be challenging, time-consuming or daunting?

About two months ago, my husband and I relocated from North Fresno into the Jackson Neighborhood. My new neighborhood is not as “desirable”, by most standards, as my previous neighborhood. If you had told me a few years ago that I’d make that move, I’d have said “Sorry, I think you have the wrong person.”

Conflict Resolution and Restorative Justice: A Vital Skill for City Work

August 18, 2017 Grace Spencer Community Outreach

Since 1982, the Victim Offender Reconciliation Program (VORP) has been bringing victims, offenders, and involved community members face-to-face to restore wholeness to those affected by crime. Through our restorative justice process, the injustice is recognized and made as right as possible, trust is rebuilt, and the relationship restored. The process holds offenders accountable for their actions, providing them an opportunity to hear how their actions affected others. It also empowers victims, offering them a voice as the parties decide how the offender can rebuild trust, restore equity, and implement necessary changes to ensure a better future. Once the parties reach an agreement, mediators follow up with victims and offenders to confirm that the agreement has been met to the victim’s satisfaction.

What I Learned While Connecting Churches in Fresno/Clovis

August 14, 2017 Javier Garza Perspectives

In May of 2016 I was hired as the Church Relations Coordinator for Fresno City Fest through the Luis Palau Association. When I interviewed for the position I didn’t know how impacted I would be by this great opportunity.

My task seemed simple: “go and talk with churches.” I had been in ministry for over eight years. Go and talk with other people in ministry? I said to myself, “how hard can it be?”

The Answer to Literacy… You!

July 21, 2017 Carol Young Literacy

It was a bit disheartening to see a recent article in the Fresno Bee sharing the Nation’s Report card putting Fresno Unified “near rock bottom”. We can talk for days about the problems, the issues, the reasons, and it’s easy to point fingers and cast blame. But you know what they say: “When you point a finger at others, four fingers are pointing back at you.” Actually, I believe they are pointing back at ALL of us, because we all have the opportunity to be part of the solution. So let’s talk about what you can do to help increase literacy, and the fulfillment that can be found in helping a child learn to read.

ENP Blog