A look back…..
Next year, I’m determined to do a better job of sharing the incredible work and stories happening in our community. There’s something worth highlighting every single week, but I often hold back, worried about overwhelming you all with too much information—even when it’s all good! My goal is to find the best way to share and summarize these moments, so you can stay connected without feeling inundated. Stay tuned!
The week-to-week advancement of the programmatic work taking place within our 14 DRIVE initiatives continues to escalate with each passing year. Our Housing partners are purchasing older rental units, renovating them, and maintaining their affordability so families struggling with rent burdens can find quality, affordable housing. Our F3 Initiative has launched a non-profit, F3 Innovate, which is focused on building out its three segments of work. Our Betting Big and BTAC programs have invested in over 50 individuals in 2024 who want to expand their small businesses or attain a contractor’s licenses. The Pre-Conception to Five Initiative has rebranded to Early Matters Fresno. Their focus remains the same: investing in the early years of our babies with a vision of supporting 47,000 little ones by 2030. Between our Civic Infrastructure, Opportunity Corridors and Housing partners, over 10,000 individuals have been served at various levels through community meetings, leadership cohorts, or service and advocacy efforts. Finally, we teamed up with The Children’s Movement to host a Resident Summit in April with 730 participants in attendance.
There are stories in all of the numbers above. The numbers represent people, journeys changed, and quality of lives improved. Though this doesn’t even cover the entirety of our work, it gives you an idea of how much is happening on a weekly basis.
Looking ahead…..
Based on our yearly progress, we are pleased with the outcomes to date. Despite all of this progress, we know we still have much to do. One area we are putting a focus on is continually strategizing how our 14 initiatives can work together so we can live out our “collective impact” model. We often consider, “How can the sum of the whole be greater than if they were done individually?” This takes intentionality, and it has to be a win-win situation for partnerships to thrive. However, this has been our vision since we launched Fresno DRIVE: to build something that’s done differently so we can achieve a different outcome.
Another big focus area is the continued development of our City-Wide Transformative Community Engagement strategy. How do we build a culture of deeper-rooted engagement and power-building for our adult and youth community members? If done well over time, how can it lead to the systemic changes needed for our city to thrive? This work will need to expand beyond DRIVE, but we feel we can be a catalyst for this movement to happen.
And lastly, YOU, how can we get YOU involved in DRIVE? This initiative has always been about a people movement: YOU are DRIVE. In 2025, you can expect invitations to participate in various facets of our work, find one that aligns with your passion, and engage with this wonderful work. Receiving and reading this newsletter is one simple way to engage. Thank you for being here!
In conclusion….
If you’re reading this, I’m betting that you love our community, you love the families that call Fresno home, and you want to play a role in Fresno’s well-being. So do we. Let’s do this together. It’ll take us a bit, but I believe in our city because I believe in those who live here. Our residents, including you and me, are Fresno’s strongest asset. We just haven’t been coordinated too well. Yet. Stay tuned.
In the meantime, I hope you all find spaces of peace and joy during the next few weeks. Get some rest, it’s going to be a busy 2025.