ENP Blog

“Familias en Acción”: How One Woman’s 29 Years of Faithful Service is Changing Fresno

March 22, 2023 Ashley Goldsmith Equipping, HUB Highlight

“We need 100 more Lilias. She is a force to be reckoned with.”
Andrew Feil, Executive Director of Every Neighborhood Partnership

Lilia Becerril never imagined starting her own organization.

She held a deep passion for serving her community, but her inability to speak English felt like an insurmountable barrier.

Living in a community with the highest concentration of poverty in California, lower life expectancies, and some of the greatest economic and racial disparities in the United States, Lilia knew there was a great need for change. For 29 years, Lilia worked as a local volunteer, advocating for and providing resources to help Fresno residents to live healthier and empowered lives.

Closing the Gaps in Digital Literacy

March 13, 2023 Grace Berg ENP News

During the pandemic, ENP Health + Wellness conducted a community needs assessment. We learned that community members had a lot of stress due to the transition of school and doctor’s appointments going virtual.

To help eliminate the stress, in 2020 ENP launched a Digital Literacy for adults in English and Spanish. This class teaches community members basic computer skills such as; Typing, Zoom and Microsoft Team, Drive, Google Docs, Google Sheets, Google Calendar, Google Translation, Youtube, email, and etiquette of electronic correspondence and messages.

The outcome of this class has been outstanding! Community members are able to attend zoom meetings/classes and are now able to help their children/grandchildren with their school work. We re-launched this class on March 1st and had 22 Spanish-speaking community members attend. We look forward to seeing these participants take control of their digital footprint and learn more about how they can engage online.

Youth Digital Access and Literacy Survey Results

March 10, 2023 Gabrielle Piceno Neighborhood Presence, Partnership Spotlight, Serving Our Schools

The memo below was released by the Fresno Coalition for Digital Inclusion, of which Every Neighborhood Partnership is a member.

A Pilgrimage South: A Up Close Reckoning with Our Nations History

March 9, 2023 Grace Berg ENP News, Equipping

“There is no such thing as a painless repentance. “
Professor Ronald Potter

In February, I took a week long trip down to the South; Jackson, Mississippi specifically, to listen and learn and process with the John and Vera Mae Perkins Foundation, JVMPF. Today, JVMPF is run and operated by 3 of John Perkins children, who continue to carry the torch for their beloved activist father. If you are not familiar with who John Perkins is, he is long time civil rights activist and theologian, who for years has carried the torch of racial reconciliation and love go hand in hand. As he nears the end of his life at 93, his family runs trips for people like you and me to engage in a part of our nation’s history we would rather soon forget.

Jason Spencer, ENP Board Member, John Perkins, and Grace Berg, ENP Staff

2022 Annual Report

February 28, 2023 Grace Berg ENP News

We have had an amazing 2022. Enjoy reading through our Annual Report to hear the stories and celebrate the victories as we have grown as an organization, hear from our Executive Director, and celebrate how we have grown our impact all over Fresno.

We have created a page HERE where you can interact with the amazing stories of impact we told over 2022.

If you are moved by what you read and see, please consider partnering with us as we work diligently to bring about a Fresno that serves every neighborhood.

2022 STORIES OF IMPACT

GIVE TO ENP HERE

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Explore the Intersection of Faith and Race: Register for LivingUNDIVIDED 2023

February 8, 2023 Ashley Goldsmith Equipping

Every person I have ever encountered who has worked for any type of system has seen some type of injustice. It makes [us] nervous to say anything, but LivingUNDIVIDED has created a space for us to be open and honest.
Jessica Criner, LivingUNDIVIDED Facilitator

LivingUNDIVIDED 2023 is launching on February 27th and will take place on Monday nights from 6:30-8:30 PM at Butler Church. LivingUNDIVIDED is a 6-week cohort experience designed to empower individuals from churches and faith-based organizations to 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. If you are asking:

Why is participating in LivingUNDIVIDED valuable?
Why is it important for Christians to have conversations about racial justice?
What can I expect during my first LivingUNDIVIDED session?

Jessica Criner and Jenny Plumb, LivingUNDIVIDED 2023 facilitators, answer these important questions in the powerful video below.

Intersection Safety Demonstrations

February 7, 2023 Daniel Dominguez Serving Our Neighborhoods

When was the last time you walked across Herndon or Blackstone Ave? Yes, you read that right, walked across. Quite a daunting task, wouldn’t you say, to venture across 6 lanes of high speed traffic!

The same sentiment is what activated Our Voice Project (OVP), a Neighborhood Association in Southwest Fresno, to voice concern in regard to the necessary infrastructure upgrades to the intersection, but to no avail. The local news has even done a segment highlighting the unsafe conditions of the intersection. View it here. OVP, in partnership with The Fresno County of Public Health and Every Neighborhood Partnership, applied for a state issued grant that would allow them to temporarily display the changes they deemed necessary to safely cross the streets of MLK Ave and California Ave. California Walks (CalWalks) awarded The Kit of Parts to the Fresno collaboration! On November 10th the intersection of Martin Luther King Ave & California Ave was temporarily shut down.

On November 10th, 2022, Southwest community members and organizational partners arrived at 5am to begin installing the temporary crosswalk art and setting up the half mile long protected bike lane.

Data for Your Neighborhood

January 13, 2023 Gabrielle Piceno Equipping, Serving Our Neighborhoods, Serving Our Schools

At ENP, we get excited about maps and data. We believe that in order to love your neighbors and your neighborhood, you have to know them. This includes data that tells a bigger story of the trends of each neighborhood, as well as individual, personal stories that data cannot capture.

ENP has created data sheets of Fresno neighborhoods as a resource for churches and community partners who want to learn more about their neighborhoods so they can make informed decisions and take relevant action steps. We focus on neighborhoods as they are defined by elementary school zones, for a total of 92 neighborhoods in the City of Fresno.

One Neighborhood at a Time with City Advance

January 11, 2023 Grace Berg Equipping, Video

“The gifts and the abilities are already there in the neighborhood. We know the next generation of leaders are there. So we start with blessing and we know that the Spirit moves.” – Andrew Feil

Andrew Feil and Artie Padilla speak at City Advance’s last virtual gathering

Every Neighborhood Partnership’s Executive Director Andrew Feil and Central Valley Community Foundation’s Director of DRIVE Initiative Artie Padilla shared with City Advance about the progressive and transformational work that ENP does in local schools, civic engagement, and residential neighborhoods with our volunteers and church partners.

Andrew and Artie explained how ENP has positioned itself as unique teachers, as its staff train churches and community partners to expand the vision and knowledge of transforming Fresno one neighborhood at a time. ENP does this in classroom settings, and also creatively through our Drive Tour.

This meeting was LOADED with resources and some incredible ideas for other organizations trying to reach their neighbors. City Advance has broken segments of the video into “chapters” so you can jump into the video at any point.

Want the notes from Andrew and Artie’s presentation? You can grab your own copy of their notes by clicking the button below.

Download the Notes Here!

How to Serve Your Community (No Matter Your Life Stage)

January 9, 2023 Ashley Goldsmith Literacy, Neighborhood Presence, Parent Engagement, Perspectives, Saturday Sports, Serving Our Neighborhoods, Serving Our Schools

Developing a Heart of Service at a Young Age

Mary Avigliano knew when she grew up, she wanted to help others. As a child, Mary developed relationships with volunteers of local urban ministry organizations who left a life-long impact on her and her family.

“If it weren’t for a group of people who were passionate about urban ministry knocking on my family’s door when I was a kid, I wouldn’t be sitting here.”
~Mary Avigliano

In 2008, when Mary was a recent college graduate with a little extra free time, she became one of Every Neighborhood Partnership’s first volunteers.