Who we are:
Our Mission:
The mission of HCCD "Is to work in West of 99/Central Unified area to stimulate community development and enlist resident leadership to improve the economic, physical and holistic infrastructures, thereby bringing hope and revitalization in the community."
The mission will be accomplished through collaboration and partnerships with businesses, churches, individuals, non-profits and the Central Unified School District.
The mission will be accomplished through collaboration and partnerships with businesses, churches, individuals, non-profits and the Central Unified School District.
Our Purpose:
Our organization is dedicated to improving the lives of residents in neglected neighborhoods in West Central Fresno. These neighborhoods face high poverty rates, limited access to resources, and low mobility, creating significant challenges for residents to thrive. To address these issues, we collaborate closely with partners and organizations to bring sustainable change and development to the area.
We believe that providing resources and infrastructure is essential to creating a healthy and sustainable community. Our community center serves as a hub for our efforts, acting as a bridge builder for community. We advocate for policy reform and changes that support affordable housing development and offer educational resources for renters and homebuyers. Additionally, we prioritize infrastructure development and work with community members to ensure efforts align to needs.
Catalyzing economic growth is a focus for us. We provide startup support to entrepreneurs, creating opportunities and stimulating the local economy. Youth development is a priority, offering leadership and volunteer opportunities to empower young people.
Social services play an integral role. We believe that everyone should have access to basic needs, and therefore, we work to stop food insecurity and with surround support.
Furthermore, we recognize that access to quality healthcare is essential, and we work to ensure that everyone in the community has access to prevention, intervention, and treatment.
We promote arts and culture programming as it helps our diverse community cultivate relationships and bloom, and work on air and climate initiatives, adding a community greenspace to our center for and with our neighbors.
Summarized, our organization is committed to revitalizing neglected neighborhoods in West Central Fresno through a comprehensive approach that addresses critical community needs. We collaborate with partners, employ resident leaders, and focus on resident-led initiatives.
We believe that providing resources and infrastructure is essential to creating a healthy and sustainable community. Our community center serves as a hub for our efforts, acting as a bridge builder for community. We advocate for policy reform and changes that support affordable housing development and offer educational resources for renters and homebuyers. Additionally, we prioritize infrastructure development and work with community members to ensure efforts align to needs.
Catalyzing economic growth is a focus for us. We provide startup support to entrepreneurs, creating opportunities and stimulating the local economy. Youth development is a priority, offering leadership and volunteer opportunities to empower young people.
Social services play an integral role. We believe that everyone should have access to basic needs, and therefore, we work to stop food insecurity and with surround support.
Furthermore, we recognize that access to quality healthcare is essential, and we work to ensure that everyone in the community has access to prevention, intervention, and treatment.
We promote arts and culture programming as it helps our diverse community cultivate relationships and bloom, and work on air and climate initiatives, adding a community greenspace to our center for and with our neighbors.
Summarized, our organization is committed to revitalizing neglected neighborhoods in West Central Fresno through a comprehensive approach that addresses critical community needs. We collaborate with partners, employ resident leaders, and focus on resident-led initiatives.
Our Values:
• The inherent dignity of all people.
• Education and Vocational training as key achievements toward community strength.
• A community working together to provide solutions.
• Spiritual formation as vital to developing a self-less perspective.
• That the best leaders for a community are found within the community.
• Partnerships and collaboration are vital to sustaining effective and efficient work with the community.
• Education and Vocational training as key achievements toward community strength.
• A community working together to provide solutions.
• Spiritual formation as vital to developing a self-less perspective.
• That the best leaders for a community are found within the community.
• Partnerships and collaboration are vital to sustaining effective and efficient work with the community.
Our History in the Community:
We are a private, nonprofit, nondenominational organization. The umbrella non-profit organization of Highway City Community Development was founded in 1995 and incorporated as a 501(c)3 in 1997 to reach a broader scope in the Highway City/West of 99 area. This is the building block to a stronger foundation in the Highway City Community area as well as the area surrounding Central Unified School District, where we focus on a philosophy of going from survive to thrive by helping people help themselves!
Highway City Thrift Store was the beginning of the vision and started operations in 1983 as a ministry to the community. It has developed significantly from there as an outlet to the community with skill building, youth programs, and outreach. It was a vital part of the community through 2019.
Profits from the store remained in the community by supporting such programs as the Food bank/Pantry, the Job training/Work Program, Life skills and Community Service program all at Highway City Thrift and the After School Learning Centers, Summer Enrichment programs for youth and sponsorships.
In 2000, a lady by the name of Gloria Aldama who attended Central Community Church and lived in the Sierra Mobile Home Park, saw the need to work with the children of that complex in increasing their reading level. She herself was a woman of few resources, but started out of her own mobile home a reading program with the children. Gloria passed away in the summer of 2001 of scholaderma, a painful disease she had lived with for many years, yet to her last days, had a passion to see the children succeed. Ed Winchester, after his retirement from the Fresno Police Dept., continued the program at Central Community Church for a few years afterwards. In her honor, HCCD was able to raise the funds to purchase a double-wide mobile home at Sierra Mobile Home Park, where the Gloria Aldama Learning Center was born. Summer learning & enrichment programs for the children at SMP were held there for over 15 years, as well as movie nights and community events.
In 2008, HCCD started two Afterschool programs one at Gloria Aldama Learning Center @ SMP and one at the Courtyard Apartments.
Those programs ran the entire school year, and served over 80+ children on a regular basis during the school year, and then also housed and ran a summer enrichment program with volunteer staff.
In late 2014, a monthly Fresh Food distribution, and ESL classes for parents, were added for the community.
In 2015 we added and expanded our community summer activities for families in a partnership Fresno County Libraries- so the great shows & reading programs were in our area.
We added Community events, Saturday Sports & Recreation, we've worked with Toys for Tots, and continued our work as partners with Central Unified to families in crisis.
The dream to build a community resource center was reborn in 2015 as well, after plans lay fallow due to the recession. In late 2019, the dream became reality with the completion of Phase I of a multi-layered project and a 5,000 sq foot center was opened to the public with great resource partners as co-tenants. Unfortunately, the timing meant we immediately switched into emergency services mode during COVID. Those first six months, thousands of services were offered as well as meals in partnership with Central Unified and Peoples Church.
Last year, we achieved significant accomplishments, both qualitatively and quantitatively. Our community resource center attracted 20,000 individuals, becoming a vital hub. The center conducted 85 workshops, enrolling over 1,800 participants in classes on parent engagement, STEM, immigration, healthy cooking and computer literacy. Additionally, HCCD organized two inner-city kids camps, children's shows, provided literacy outreach and youth counseling services.
In healthcare, we hosted 17 clinics, seeing over 900 patients. We organized 15 outreach events with substantial attendance per event, held community meetings and forums, did connecting through conversations and individuals surveys. We completed part of our greenspace project for and with our community, and now have an area that the community can enjoy while we continue to work with partners on air & climate initiatives for better health outcomes. These events fostered community engagement and facilitated connections among residents where their voice now leads the future of what we are doing.
Highway City Thrift Store was the beginning of the vision and started operations in 1983 as a ministry to the community. It has developed significantly from there as an outlet to the community with skill building, youth programs, and outreach. It was a vital part of the community through 2019.
Profits from the store remained in the community by supporting such programs as the Food bank/Pantry, the Job training/Work Program, Life skills and Community Service program all at Highway City Thrift and the After School Learning Centers, Summer Enrichment programs for youth and sponsorships.
In 2000, a lady by the name of Gloria Aldama who attended Central Community Church and lived in the Sierra Mobile Home Park, saw the need to work with the children of that complex in increasing their reading level. She herself was a woman of few resources, but started out of her own mobile home a reading program with the children. Gloria passed away in the summer of 2001 of scholaderma, a painful disease she had lived with for many years, yet to her last days, had a passion to see the children succeed. Ed Winchester, after his retirement from the Fresno Police Dept., continued the program at Central Community Church for a few years afterwards. In her honor, HCCD was able to raise the funds to purchase a double-wide mobile home at Sierra Mobile Home Park, where the Gloria Aldama Learning Center was born. Summer learning & enrichment programs for the children at SMP were held there for over 15 years, as well as movie nights and community events.
In 2008, HCCD started two Afterschool programs one at Gloria Aldama Learning Center @ SMP and one at the Courtyard Apartments.
Those programs ran the entire school year, and served over 80+ children on a regular basis during the school year, and then also housed and ran a summer enrichment program with volunteer staff.
In late 2014, a monthly Fresh Food distribution, and ESL classes for parents, were added for the community.
In 2015 we added and expanded our community summer activities for families in a partnership Fresno County Libraries- so the great shows & reading programs were in our area.
We added Community events, Saturday Sports & Recreation, we've worked with Toys for Tots, and continued our work as partners with Central Unified to families in crisis.
The dream to build a community resource center was reborn in 2015 as well, after plans lay fallow due to the recession. In late 2019, the dream became reality with the completion of Phase I of a multi-layered project and a 5,000 sq foot center was opened to the public with great resource partners as co-tenants. Unfortunately, the timing meant we immediately switched into emergency services mode during COVID. Those first six months, thousands of services were offered as well as meals in partnership with Central Unified and Peoples Church.
Last year, we achieved significant accomplishments, both qualitatively and quantitatively. Our community resource center attracted 20,000 individuals, becoming a vital hub. The center conducted 85 workshops, enrolling over 1,800 participants in classes on parent engagement, STEM, immigration, healthy cooking and computer literacy. Additionally, HCCD organized two inner-city kids camps, children's shows, provided literacy outreach and youth counseling services.
In healthcare, we hosted 17 clinics, seeing over 900 patients. We organized 15 outreach events with substantial attendance per event, held community meetings and forums, did connecting through conversations and individuals surveys. We completed part of our greenspace project for and with our community, and now have an area that the community can enjoy while we continue to work with partners on air & climate initiatives for better health outcomes. These events fostered community engagement and facilitated connections among residents where their voice now leads the future of what we are doing.