Neighborhood Degree has broken ground on a new community center that will enable Houston-area residents to have better access to resources.
The Visalia organization, which mentors young students and creates opportunities for children and families through its kindergarten-through-college career pathway, held the groundbreaking in Houston Neighborhood Park on April 5.
The Neighborhood Degree Community Center will provide the organization with a place to conduct and expand its programs in the Houston area of North Visalia.
Neighborhood Degree CEO Stephanie Benthin offers her remarks at the April 5 groundbreaking.
“Our main goal is to end generational poverty,” Neighborhood Degree CEO Stephanie Benthin said. “That is our overwhelming goal, and the way that we do that is through resources and relationships.”
Tulare County has one of the lowest economic connectedness ratios in the country, according to Benthin. A Harvard University survey ranks Tulare last in California. Economic connectedness refers to people who interact, live in communities, go to school, do recreational activities and have jobs with people who are in a similar economic class as they are.
“It’s still very true that it’s not just about what you know, it’s about who you know,” Benthin said. “They need to know more people who can open those kinds of opportunities. They need to be interacting with people who have higher paying jobs, with doctors or lawyers, etc., so that they aspire to those things, continue on with their education and see that as a possibility.”
Team work makes the dream work
Neighborhood Degree has been a partnership between Neighborhood Church and the Houston neighborhood for 18 years.
“We definitely wanted ‘neighborhood’ in the name. We picked ‘degree’ because our goal was to change the trajectory of this community, one degree at a time,” Benthin said. “Getting degrees for trade schools, technical schools, or universities will help our students have opportunities for jobs in the future that can move their whole family out of poverty.”
Neighborhood Degree also partners with the Visalia Unified School District, which has allowed the nonprofit organization to use its facilities at no cost.
“We’ve run out of space,” Benthin said. “As (Houston Elementary School) has grown, they’ve added TK (transitional kindergarten) and other classes, so the rooms that the school used to allow us to use are now being used for classrooms.
“Having a space in the neighborhood is really important,” Benthin added. “We run some of our programs on the (Neighborhood Church) campus, but transportation is an issue. We need to build some more space in the neighborhood so that kids can walk over, and parents can be there.”
The new 4,800-square-foot facility will serve as an educational hub with workshops, mentoring and leadership development. Kindergarten-to-career pathway programs conducted there can help prepare students for careers that help lift them out of poverty.
“This has been a long time coming, a dream of ours for so long,” said Forrest Jenan, lead pastor at Neighborhood Church. “Today… is more than a celebration, it’s a moment where vision meets reality. It’s a moment where hope is meeting opportunity.”
The new facility will also serve as a resource center offering job training, financial literacy classes and access to community services. It will also be a venue for family, community and cultural events.
“This center will serve as a vibrant hub for local residents, offering resources, programs, and opportunities to foster growth and connection,” Visalia City Councilman Emmanuel Soto said. “This project embodies the spirit of collaboration and community service that makes Visalia a stronger, more compassionate place.”
The Visalia Unified School District superintendent agrees.
“When our students are connected to something meaningful, we see that impact their trajectory,” Superintendent Kirk Shrum said. “I’m well aware of the impact this partnership has had for our students, especially in this community over the almost two decades of students that have been part of this and have now graduated, and have gone on to pursue things that maybe they didn’t even think were possible, all because of the connection here.”
The April 5 ceremonial groundbreaking for the Neighborhood Degree Community Center
How to get involved
People can get involved in Neighborhood Degree in various ways.
“One of those, of course, is donations,” Benthin said. “We are still raising funds for the Community Center Building Fund, and we have naming options and different levels of donations. All of that’s on our website. They can also contribute to program costs.”
Opportunities will continue after the building is completed.
“We utilize hundreds of volunteers,” Benthin said. “On our website, there’s all the different programs that we have, and we use mentors at every level of our kinder-through-career pathway.”
This article originally appeared on Visalia Times-Delta: Neighborhood Degree breaks ground on new community center in Visalia