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Welcome to a new series from What’s Good in the Neighborhood—Soul Care and Leadership. In this opening episode, we set the stage for a timely and necessary conversation about what it means to lead from a healthy soul. We’ll explore the rhythms that sustain emotionally healthy leadership, how to navigate conflict without burning out, and why recovery, spiritual practices, and deep friendships aren’t luxuries—they’re lifelines. Whether you're leading in a church, a nonprofit, or just trying to be a steady presence in your community, this series invites you to go deeper, get honest, and rediscover the "good" in the neighborhoods we serve and in the souls we lead from.
Tune in and journey with us as we talk real soul care for real leaders.
Learn more about us at everyneighborhood.org/podcast -
Today Andrew and Grace get to chat with local advocate and activist, Ariana Martinez-Lott who spent over ten years in advocacy work and real time relationships with undocumented folks here in Fresno county. Arianna brings real world insight and authentic experience to the conversation. Arianna talks about staying positive, seeing the current situation as an opportunity, and staying curious.
Serving as a consultant and engaged community member for local initiatives, Ariana Martinez Lott leverages her cross-sector relationships to strengthen resident-led transformation in Fresno. In her previous role as Community Relations Director for City of Fresno District 3, Ariana led policy analysis, managed district projects, and proudly helped residents navigate complex issues. An avid thrifter, she spends her spare time smothering her two children with kisses, or trying (relentlessly) to convince her husband to let her bring home more plantitas.
Every Neighborhood Partnership is a Fresno, CA based non-profit that exists to Activate. Equip. Mobilize and Transform so that our students excel, community members are healthy and whole, and our neighborhoods thrive.
Learn more about us by visiting https://everyneighborhood.org or @enpfresno on socials. -
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Andrew hangs out today with Mark Bowers of World Relief on the podcast. Mark describes how his own personal journey led him to a life on the margins with refugees and immigrants. Mark and Andrew discuss the Church's role and responsibility to the immigrant, how World Relief is addressing and responding to the recent policy changes, and how you can learn and get involved with refugees in your own neighborhood.
J. Mark Bowers serves as Sr. Training Advisor for World Relief where his team builds tools for refugee and immigrant ministry in The Workshop. When the screens are powered down, Mark runs a housing business for immigrant families in East Lake—an under-resourced neighborhood where his own family lives in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
To learn more about World Relief - https://worldrelief.org/
Every Neighborhood Partnership is a Fresno, CA based non-profit that exists to Activate. Equip. Mobilize and Transform so that our students excel, community members are healthy and whole, and our neighborhoods thrive.
Learn more about us by visiting https://everyneighborhood.org or @enpfresno on socials. -
Andrew sits down with Mariana Diaz, of Mennonite Central Committee West Coast, and they talk about not only her personal story of immigration, but local immigration policies, ways to navigate and learn the system, and how to be a better neighbor to our local undocumented community.
West Coast MCC’s immigration program serves immigrant populations affiliated with our constituent churches and surrounding communities. They provide documentation services, and educational learning opportunities through workshops and outreach.
Mariana is a Fresno native and alumna of Fresno Pacific University. She is currently a Legal Immigration Caseworker for the West Coast Mennonite Central Committee where she assists individuals with applying for immigration benefits. She is proud to be able to serve and empower our immigrant community.
To learn about MCC visit - https://mcc.org/about/us/west-coast -
Considering our current cultural moment, Andrew and Grace process the current administration's philosophy on immigration in light of ENP values and point of view.
The two discuss how their personal faith is intersecting with the issue of immigration, and frame up for listeners why we're taking a pause to learn from experts who have dedicated their lives or careers to people who live in the shadows of citizenship.
To learn more about the National Immigration Forum
To take a look at the Fresno Immigration Timline
Every Neighborhood Partnership is a Fresno, CA based non-profit that exists to Activate. Equip. Mobilize and Transform so that our students excel, community members are healthy and whole, and our neighborhoods thrive.
Learn more about us by visiting https://everyneighborhood.org or @enpfresno on socials. -
As we finish out our conversation about being a good neighbor, we finish our series with Christian Gonzalez and Samai Munoz. Both women work personally with women and residents in our urban communities here in Fresno, and have the lived experience of working with people at a slower and messier pace than we would like in order to see real change.
Samai is Mexican born, Fresno raised, and transformed through the power of travel, language, people, cultures and traditions. She finds herself continually learning through life experiences about radical acceptance of others and hyper-inclusive spaces. Samai is committed to evolving, self-development and growth in order to be a better family member, friend, and neighbor.
Christian Gonzalez is the eldest daughter of immigrant parents. She is the Manager of Neighborhood Development She has worked both in ministry and in local place-making initiatives that build on adopted city plans, policies, and smart mobility streetscapes to encourage new mixed-use housing, businesses, public amenities, and jobs.
To learn more about Lowell CDC - https://lowellcdc.org/
To learn more about Parent Engagement with ENP - https://everyneighborhood.org/nd/
Every Neighborhood Partnership is a Fresno, CA based non-profit that exists to Activate. Equip. Mobilize and Transform so that our students excel, community members are healthy and whole, and our neighborhoods thrive.
Learn more about us by visiting https://everyneighborhood.org or @enpfresno on socials. -
Today we get the privilege to sit down with and laugh with Pastor DJ Criner!
DJ is a pastor, teacher, and visionary here in Fresno as he shepherds the people of Southwest Fresno at St Rest Baptist Church.
DJ shares his thoughts about what it means for a church and a pastor to be a good neighbor in their space and place. The three chat theology, contexual ministry, community work, and city flourishing.
To learn more about St Rest - https://www.saintrest.org/
To learn more about their SW Food Hub - https://www.fresnometmin.org/StRest-Food-To-Share
Every Neighborhood Partnership is a Fresno, CA based non-profit that exists to Activate. Equip. Mobilize and Transform so that our students excel, community members are healthy and whole, and our neighborhoods thrive.
Learn more about us by visiting https://everyneighborhood.org or @enpfresno on socials. -
Mike Oz is the guy who knows a thing or two about finding the best things about where he lives and making them a pretty big deal. Andrew, Grace and Mike talk about what it takes to care about your city so much that you begin to make places for people to hang out at. Mike is the pro at this in Fresno, we are grateful we got the chance to pick his brain about why Fresno refuses to love itself, and creating spaces where people may just change their mind.
You can find out more about Fresno Street Eats here: https://fresnostreeteats.com/
Mike Osegueda (aka Mike Oz) is the president/founder of Fresno Street Eats, which serves as both an events company and a business development group for mobile food vendors.
Mike lived the first half of his life in the Bay Area, but has adopted Fresno has his home after living here for more than 20 years now, having moved to the 559 to work for The Fresno Bee.
In the time that he's been in Fresno, he's taken a big interest in Fresno's inferiority complex, putting a spotlight on the things that make it cool (like tacos!) and building rad things for the community.
Every Neighborhood Partnership is a Fresno, CA based non-profit that exists to Activate. Equip. Mobilize and Transform so that our students excel, community members are healthy and whole, and our neighborhoods thrive.
Learn more about us by visiting https://everyneighborhood.org or @enpfresno on socials. -
It's December 19th and it felt fitting that we paused for a moment to recognize the season we are in. Grace and Andrew discuss Advent, the meaning and purpose of the season, and how the God we serve made deliberate choices to come as baby, born into poverty, already so needy.
God is in the Manger, by Dietrick Bonhoeffer
Unwrapping the Greatest Gift, by Ann Voskamp
Every Neighborhood Partnership is a Fresno, CA based non-profit that exists to Activate. Equip. Mobilize and Transform so that our students excel, community members are healthy and whole, and our neighborhoods thrive.
Learn more about us by visiting https://everyneighborhood.org or @enpfresno on socials. -
Two of Fresno's conveners join us today on the podcast to talk about creating spaces and places so that every neighbor is welcome. The four talk about how hospitality is radically inclusive, invested, advocates for those whose voices aren't heard as loud, and extremely simple. This episode talks specifically about the different ways Fresno High and the Tower District neighborhoods have activated hospitality, so please enjoy and learn about what it could look like for you in your neighborhood!
Simon Biasell is a third-generation San Joaquin Valley Presbyterian pastor and currently serves at the Big Red Church and Woven Coalition for Justice. Over the past two decades, Simon has worked to build radical hospitality within faith-based groups and is passionate bringing people together and mobilizing communities to dismantle systems of oppression and exclusion. He and his wife Natasha live in the Fresno High neighborhood with their two children, Paloma and Pax.
Nichole Castech has lived in Fresno’s Tower/Fresno High area for six years and has called Fresno home since 2010. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Chico State and a master’s degree in Leadership and Organizational Studies from Fresno Pacific University. Active in her community, Nichole serves on the boards of the Tower Neighborhood Association and Tower District Business Association and is a member of the District 1 Project Review Committee. In her free time, she enjoys paddleboarding at Millerton Lake and exploring her neighborhood on leisurely strolls. -
Being a neighbor doesn't mean you just happen to live in a place! Ivan and Karl teach us today what it means to lift the head of our neighbor and empower them to change the culture and landscape of their place. The four talk disempowerment, how the ability to choose is the ultimate privilege, and that the dream that neighborhoods would be marked by equity. We learn more about Community Land Use Academy (CLUA), run by the team here at ENP. This episode is full of long term wonder for the future of our neighborhoods, and really practical advice about how to identify the positive markers in your neighborhood.
To learn more about CLUA learn more here: https://everyneighborhood.org/nd/
To learn about the FresGO app, click here: https://www.fresno.gov/3-1-1/
Ivan grew up in Fresno and is a graduate of Fresno Pacific University (FPU). Ivan majored in pre-law and in religious studies (general religion). He also has a master's degree in theology and teaches a master's level course at FPU called "Forming A Community of Mercy, Justice, and Peace", where he partners theology with community organizing frameworks to help students think deeply about community and develop plans for engagement. Ivan lives in downtown Fresno with Taz Paz, an Australian cattle dog. He has been active in community development work in Fresno for over 10 years, has launched community programs, and is a member of First Presbyterian Church Fresno. Ivan loves to draw, read, and train in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.
Karl lived in five different cities until 2014, when he moved to Fresno to work in urban ministry. He studied Environmental Science and Urban Planning as an undergraduate, which galvanized his love for living things and inhabited places. He later earned his Master’s Degree in theology before working in Catholic parish ministry. You can still find him leading music at his parish as a volunteer, but Karl is grateful that ENP allows him to weave together his passions for justice, learning, and intercultural engagement for the sake of the city’s long-term prosperity. He lives with his wife Alyssa and their cat Koestler, and loves creating things like artwork, playlists, travel plans, and hand-prepared cups of coffee. -
Who is my neighbor?
Andrew and Grace introduce our new series, A Good Neighbor. This series will focus on what it means to advocate for your neighbor, what it means to be long term invested in people and place, and how to show up and in small and big ways. On this episode, Andrew and Grace share their personal experience and context with what they've learned about neighboring, they answer the question of who is their neighbor in their faith context, and also what are some simple ways that you can show up for your neighbor.
We hope you enjoy this series!
Every Neighborhood Partnership is a Fresno, CA based non-profit that exists to Activate. Equip. Mobilize and Transform so that our students excel, community members are healthy and whole, and our neighborhoods thrive.
Learn more about us by visiting https://everyneighborhood.org or @enpfresno on socials.
Podcast edited and produced by Josh Gilbert Media -
On this final episode in our series, For the Long Haul, Andrew and Grace sit down with Julie and Jaeden from Central Valley Community Foundation to discuss the issue of Racism and how it has impacted our city long term. The four discuss our community's prejudices, assumptions, and biases and what we can all do to join the conversation around changing the course of the future.
To learn more about Facing Fresno click here - https://www.facingfresno.org/ -
Today, Andrew and Grace picked the brains of Natalie Caples and Jennifer Rhoden, two people who tackle a very large question every day in their work - How do we get food into the hands of people who are food insecure?
Natalie has served as Nutrition Education Coordinator, Programs Supervisor, Programs Manager, Director of Programs, and Chief Operations Officer since joining Central California Food Bank in 2008, and was appointed co-Chief Executive Officer in June 2020. She graduated from San Jose State University with a Bachelor of Science in Nutrition with a concentration in Dietetics and a minor in Business Administration.
Jennifer is the Program Manager for the Nutrition Education Department with Fresno Metro Ministry
To learn more about Central California Food Bank -- https://ccfoodbank.org/
To learn more about Fresno Metro Ministry -- https://www.fresnometmin.org/food-to-share-page -
Today, Grace and Andrew sit down with two local CEOs, AP Armour and Mark Ford. AP and Mark share learned insights around job readiness, job development, and the power of a job. The 4 chat about the different models and perspectives they implement in order to hire people who may be on their 2nd or 3rd chance in order to develop incredible employees. If you want to learn more about barriers to employment, hiring those that live on the edges of society, and the amazing benefits that it brings to businesses, you will love this conversation!
To learn more about Neighborhood Industries - https://neighborhoodindustries.org/
To learn more about JD Foods - https://www.jdfood.com/ -
On this episode of WGITN, Grace and Andrew sit down and talk with Nolen Burchett and Ahmad Bahrami. Nolen and Ahmad come from two different edges of the mental health and addiction solution spectrum, and yet were able to find common ground about the drugs, addictions, and hurdles that plague our county and country, as well as the long term solutions. Grace also shares a bit of her personal experience navigating recovery options as a family member.
To learn more about Touchstone Recovery, learn about them here - https://touchstonerecoverycenter.com/
To learn more about Fresno Behavioral Health, learn more about them here - https://www.fresnocountyca.gov/Departments/Behavioral-Health/Care-Services/Get-Involved/Behavioral-Health-Equity
If you or someone you know is struggling with addiction or mental health, there is help. Please don't hesitate to receive care. -
Richard and Tumani work with kids in urban environments in Fresno that have every odd stacked against them - the foster care system, homelessness, abuse, and trafficking to name a few. But these two have dedicated their lives to not only provide safe environments, but also to offer kids in crisis the opportunity to plan, dream, and execute the life they want.
Join us today on What's Good to talk about what it takes to engage kids who need support, how you can get involved, and what it means to be a person who provides access and hope.
To learn more about LiveAgain Fresno and Richard's story - https://liveagainfresno.org/
To learn more about ProjectAccess and Tumani's team - https://www.fresnounified.org/departments/dpi/project-access -
On this episode, we talk with two people operating from 2 different ends of the homelessness crisis but have chosen to partner together; McKenna Gilman of KuppaCares, who provides a hot cup of coffee and a kind conversation to the homeless of Fresno, and Zack Darrah, CEO of Poverello House, a full service homelessness center providing temporary shelter, addiction and recovery services, a church, and a "free" restaurant. The two discuss interacting with the homeless, the issues they're seeing on the street, having faith centered conversations, and why both of their roles are a call to serve the least of these.
To learn more about KuppaCares, Kuppa Joy's newest non-profit - https://kuppajoy.com/kuppa-cares/
To learn more about Poverello House - https://poverellohouse.org/
To get involved and volunteer at Papa Mikes - https://poverellohouse.org/papa-mikes-cafe -
In our new series, For the Long Run, we're tackling big issues that won't be fixed overnight. Today, we talk with Esther Carver and Dan Zack to discuss the obstacles facing affordable housing, the creativity needed to offer different options to people, and the exciting solutions that folks are working on to bring change to the space. This episode is Fresno heavy, and discusses in detail the specific issues we face here in the valley.
To learn more about Esther and her work with Lowell CDC - HERE
To learn more about Dan Zack and Zack Urban Solutions - HERE -
Is the church the asset in the neighborhood or is it one of many? Jason Spencer tackles this question head-on as local pastor who has committed to not just being a church in a neighborhood, but a church with the neighborhood, there to empower people in their God-given dignity and the work they've been called to do! The trio talk about the difference between outreach and place based focus, leadership development, and the power of being a real partner in the neighborhood and not just a location to attend.
Jason Spencer is the lead pastor of an Image Church in Southwest Fresno. Image Church started their community development organization called Generation Changers for kids in their local schools, and also has opened up their property for job skill development.
You can learn more about Jason and Image Church HERE
And you can support and learn more about Generation Changers HERE
To learn about how Fresno is entering into the service of homeless students HERE - Visa fler
