Lifeline Community Development Corporation of Merced County

Our Winton Community Center is a resource for the small, unincorporated town of Winton. The staff and many volunteers come together to help each other thrive. We strongly believe in partnerships, and then many good things happen: a thriving community garden where we not only grow food but also help people grow their vegetables and learn to budget. Youth enrichment, where young people can find a safe place to engage and learn (e.g., resume building, job searches, community engagement). Mental health services where people can find deeper relationships and safe spaces to develop and heal. we provide emergency food, resume help, and a number of other resources people might need to help them move out of poverty. We provide the VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance)bringing over $300,000 back into the Winton community through refunds. But most importantly, neighbors are working together to make Winton a better community an a better place to live. We have several interns from the local UC Merced, as well as young people learning and growing together through a WorkNet program. Everyone using their gifts and abilities to help the community. On any given day we have unhomed, retired teachers, people struggling with addictions, community members in need of food, educators, youth doing their community service, and other community members, all working together to put Winton on the map for something good.

Coaching/Training and Equipping - Using Asset Based Community Development (ABCD) principles and practices requires a major shift in understanding to move from 'needs-based' programs to 'strength-based' empowering relationships. We train individuals, nonprofits, and other groups in first considering the assets already present in the neighborhood: the people, skills, resources, and dreams that are already present in the community. This is in contrast to needs-based approaches commonly used to render services to the needy. The direction at the beginning of the journey determines the destiny at the end. We focus on the local resources and build community and capacity, whereas a needs-based approach can foster dependency and disincentivize initiative. The ABCD approach is well respected in community work, but when it comes to working it out in the neighborhood, often workers fall back into the familiar 'what can we provide for you?' We are changing the language and the outcomes by engaging neighborhoods from the beginning in self-determining their preferred future. Our coaching included the steps of ABCD, listening conversations, understanding poverty culture, how to address justice issues in collaborative ways, and many other topics. We walk alongside teams who live our good ABCD principles and practices.

The Loughborough area is known for its high crime, gang activities, and low-income housing. Our Community Center is a place where people can come and receive resources, volunteer their time, have access to fresh fruit and vegetables, and receive help with resumes, job searches, and mental health care. Our after-school has about 15-20 children come to get help with homework, have social interactions, learn through science projects, and have lots of fun. We want our young people to see a better future for themselves, and our interns are a big asset to make them dream big. We provided free income tax assistance for over 100 families and learned about budgeting. We have partnered with the local elementary school to provide resources for a school garden. Here too we have partnerships with the Health Department, Behavioral Health, the People's Fridge, the Probation Department, the local library, and so many other groups. Together, we can provide resources community members need to move out of poverty.

Other programs: PACT (Probation/Parole and Community Team) - recognize that our neighborhoods have amazing resilience and yet are very fragile at the same time. When people are released from jail or prison, they often don't have the tools to reenter their neighborhoods in peaceful ways. We have partnered with Parole and Probation to create a monthly one-stop event in Los Banos and Merced to help returning citizens and their families get the resources they need to reenter successfully. We also provide coaching and mentoring to help with the reentry and service opportunities. We partnered with Rivera Elementary School to provide tutoring and started a school community garden.