Welcome to The Collaborative Bulletin!

This September 2024, the agency continues to showcase its outstanding work. El Plan del Pueblo: The People’s Plan for Economic Justice has been completed and is now in the design stage. Once the design is finished, the final report will be available in mid-October 2024. A summary of The People’s Plan was shared with the community at the Community Builder meeting on September 11, 2024. The staff is preparing a timeline to present the report to other communities and civic leaders.

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 This past July 2024, the agency continued to showcase its outstanding work in the community. Through our Summer Food Program, we served 200 students weekly, totaling 1,200 meals over several weeks. Our Sip n Paint Fundraiser was a great success, receiving excellent reviews from those who attended. A special shoutout to Board members Dr. Juan Lopez-Solorza and his family, Sterling Fountain, and Adolfo Lopez and his wife for their support at the event.

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 We welcome another Fourth of July, celebrating the birth of our country and the importance of the Constitution of the United States of America. June and July have been blazing with excitement around the upcoming release of El Plan del Pueblo: The People’s Plan for Economic Justice. The efforts of the staff and other team members have made this possible.

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May is a wonderful month for celebrating Cinco de Mayo, a time to honor culture and share rich experiences with the community. It is a period of coming together as a family, enjoying traditional food, and sharing stories of the past. Mother's Day, a highlight of the month, celebrates the richness of family heritage and honors mothers as the source of family history. I remember my mother always being there for our family during both happy and tough times. Mothers are the cornerstone of the family, keeping us united and ensuring that our history is passed down to the next generation. I will never forget my mother's words of wisdom, her faith, and the hope she brought to our family.

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 As April transitions into May 2024, it's a time to reflect on the accomplishments of the past month and the ongoing efforts to serve our community. Recently, our agency successfully organized and provided essential services to the community. We attended the Equity of the Road event in Stockton at the University of the Pacific, which drew over 200 attendees, including more than 50 community members from Modesto and Ceres. Blanca Marin, our Executive Assistant, and West Modesto resident delivered a keynote address at this event, sponsored by the San Joaquin Valley Health Foundation. 

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 March has been a rock & roll month for our agency. We've witnessed a breath of fresh energy from the community, discovering their influential role in shaping our direction. Throughout the month, we organized several workshops, each addressing crucial aspects of our community's well-being. 

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This month is packed with events. We hosted a Climate Resiliency Summit featuring speakers from UC Davis and UC Merced addressing the challenges of climate change, emphasizing the importance of data collection and community engagement. Miriam Nuno and Irva Hertz-Picciotto provided an excellent overview of the significance of community participation in these conversations. Yury Garcia, Post-Doctorial with UC Davis Center for Reducing Health Disparities as Data Scientist share importance’s working with community. Ingrid Brostrom and Paul Almeida discussed the value of conducting surveys with the community on climate change. Mayor Rey Leon shared the remarkable achievements of Huron City in addressing climate change, while Joel Diringer highlighted the impact on agricultural workers. Seventy community members attended, asking questions and expressing interest in joining the Climate Change Committee. We've accepted the challenge and are collaborating with stakeholders to organize this committee. Stay tuned for more updates.

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 The West Modesto Community Collaborative invites you to join them for a transformative event this February. On February 9th, from 11 am to 2 pm, they are hosting a Black History Empowerment Luncheon at the King Kennedy Memorial Center. With a ticket price of $30, attendees can enjoy a meaningful gathering aimed at celebrating Black history and fostering empowerment within the community. For more information or to reserve your spot, please contact them at 209-522-6902. In the words of Reverend Martin Luther King Jr., "Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase" serves as a poignant reminder of the courage and conviction needed to navigate toward progress. Therefore, faith is the crucial first step our community must take to enact meaningful change. Without it, life becomes an endless struggle, with uncertainty about when to take that initial leap forward.

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Happy New Year, and Welcome to 2024! West Modesto Community Collaborative and many of our community colleagues and friends see a bright future for the agency. We have achieved many of our milestones and enhanced the wellness of the community we serve. We offer training classes to the community on Advocacy, Financial Literacy, ESL  classes, Wellness programs, Housing, Jobs, and Health Education.  

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 November 2023 brought families together to celebrate Dia de Los Muertos, remember our past family history, to being Thankful for our families during Thanksgiving. December 2023 is the month we celebrate the joy of giving and sharing the spirit of helping others in need. The agency has been blessed by the support we have been receiving to support our Christmas Toy Drive. We have 158 families signed up, which represents 496 children waiting to receive toys from Santa Claus. Yet Christmas should be honored every day of the year with so many families seeking assistance from housing, food, clothing, and employment. What is so challenging is that many of our families are working to support the household. They just cannot keep up with the cost of living expenses. Here is a story I want to share with the reader of the WMCC Newsletter. 

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 October 2023 was a month to remember; WMCC’s Octoberfest was a success, seeing happy faces of children playing games and a surprise visit from the Sheriff’s Department. Sheriff's Officers handed out candy to the children at the center. Our Mark Twain program has been the highlight of the agency's effort to provide services to Mark Twain Middle School students. Activities included mental health education, social media safety, and self-esteem. These activities were presented by our two interns from Stanislaus State University, Victoria Torres and Elizabeth McCoy. Andrea Prado, LCSW, has provided guidance and learning experiences for both interns.

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 September was a good month for our agency, we received the EL Concilio La Raza Award for the agency's work in meeting the needs of the communities we served. The WMCC Team deserves the credit for making this possible. The Month of October has always been an exciting time for the agency we are implementing CWOP 4.0 outreach throughout Stanislaus County regarding health and safety at the workplace. Collaboration with UC Merced Labor Center and 10 other non-profits in the Central Valley on Climate Resilience and Economic Development and Valley Sustainable and Equitable Economic Development (VSEED) Project. El Plan del Pueblo (The People’s Plan) has been launched, and more information will be forthcoming. The City of Modesto will present an update on the Vine Street housing development on October 25th. Halloween is my favorite day of the month, WMCC will be hosting the October Fest family event on the 26th from 4 pm to 6 pm, and we invite City and County officials to come by to help support the community. Finally, the Clinical Program Director for our Wellness program attended the Mindful Leader Summit Conference in Washington, D.C. 

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