Two years ago, the principal of Pyle Elementary asked Every Neighborhood Partnership (ENP) if there was a local church who would like to partner with their school. He was specifically looking for volunteers to serve as mentors for their 5th and 6th grade students.

Pyle Elementary School is about a ten minute walk from The Garage Community Church. “They’re our neighbors,” says David Delgado, a deacon at the church.

ENP connected Pyle with The Garage Church, and after intentional conversations between the church leaders and school principal, volunteers from The Garage Church launched a Saturday Sports program, began serving as literacy mentors, and showed up to the school every Friday during the 5th and 6th grade lunch hour to build relationships with students.

The Power of Proximity

On one of these Friday afternoons, students were playing on the playground and talking with Garage Church volunteers. It was an especially cold day, so every student was bundled up in a warm coat.

Except for one.

John Drotos, a Garage Church volunteer and pastor, noticed one young man wearing the same clothes he wore during the warmer months- a thin, short-sleeve t-shirt shirt and shorts. Through talking with the student, John learned he didn’t leave his coat at home. The boy wasn’t wearing a jacket because he didn’t own one. 

John texted the school principal, who was more familiar with the boy’s home life, and asked if it would be okay for the church to bring the student a coat and a few other clothing items the following week. 

With the principal’s blessing, John and The Garage Church team collected a few new clothing items for the student and left them for the student at school the next week. “He was so excited,” said John. “He cherished that jacket so much, he didn’t want to get it dirty [on the playground].”

Through relationship and conversation, John was able to learn about a practical need in a boy’s life.

Relationships and conversation come with proximity.

“What good is it to say, ‘I love my neighbor,’ but not actually be present [with them]?” asks David, another volunteer from The Garage Church.

“As we go about our work in our communities, when we listen to the stories and ideas of those who are there, we communicate that we value our neighbors and view them as an asset in the community instead of positioning ourselves as the ones with the answers,” says Gabrielle Piceno, ENP Administrator.

Is your church close enough to the everyday happenings of your neighborhood to hear these stories?

The Power of Partnership

“Oftentimes when we talk about what outreach looks like, we think about big structures and programming that [involve a lot of time, money, and people],” says Pastor John Drotos with The Garage Church. “We overlook the little things that don’t require a whole lot of manpower or financial resources.

We’re a newer church plant and we don’t have a lot of any of those things. But it was really cool to see with the little we did had, God was wanting to use that.

[Also], it’s okay for the church to be honest and say, ‘I need to be in as many partnerships as possible in our community to actually meet the holistic needs of this individual that comes before me.'”

Every Neighborhood Partnership exists to cultivate… you guessed it… partnerships.

​​If you are willing to build excitement among your church members and connect them with ENP, we will take care of the logistics! There are so many creative ways your church can support the students and teachers at your local elementary school. Partnership can range from blessing the staff with an appreciation event every other semester to providing weekly volunteers to be literacy mentors.

“As a former teacher myself, I know how much pressure is put on the education system to be the way out of hard situations for kids,” says Jenessa Cheema, ENP’s School Support Director.

“Schools are full of great people doing great things, but they can’t do it alone. That’s why it’s so important for churches to adopt the local schools in their neighborhood,” says Jenessa. 

Several churches in Fresno are connected with their local elementary school! Rather than starting something new, check out the partnership map on this page to find out if there are programs already taking place in your neighborhood you could support and volunteer with!

Churches and Fresno Christians, you are vital community partners. As we build bridges between the body of Christ and local schools, we believe our city will look more like Heaven.

Ready to get involved in your neighborhood? Email jenessa@everyneighborhood.org or click the button below if you are interested in initiating a church-school partnership or have questions about the needs in your neighborhood.

Thank you to John Drotos and Page Phan for providing most of the photos featured in this blog post!