Self-Help Enterprises Chosen as Nonprofit of the Year

Self-Help Enterprises Chosen as Nonprofit of the Year

Posted on June 6, 2018

Self-Help Enterprises is proud to announce it has been selected as a 2018 California Nonprofit of the Year by Assemblymember Rudy Salas, who represents the 32^nd Assembly District.

“For over half a century, Self-Help Enterprises has helped thousands of families in the Central Valley realize the American dream of home ownership,” said Assemblymember Salas. “Self-Help Enterprises brings people together who want to put in the work through ‘sweat equity’ to help families build their homes and their futures. I am proud to recognize Self-Help Enterprises as Non-Profit of the Year and am thankful for their commitment building stronger communities together.”

Self-Help Enterprises’ staff members traveled to Sacramento to join one hundred other nonprofits that were honored by their state senators and assemblymembers during a celebration luncheon as part of California Nonprofits Day on June 6.

Self-Help Enterprises’ efforts encompass a range of programs, including mutual self-help housing, sewer and water development, housing rehabilitation, multifamily rental housing and homebuyer programs in the San Joaquin Valley. Since 1965, Self-Help Enterprises has helped more than 6,200 families build their own homes, rehabilitated over 6,400 unsafe homes, developed over 1,350 units of affordable rental housing and has provided technical assistance for reliable access to safe drinking water and sanitary sewer infrastructures to more than 160 small communities.

“We are deeply humbled to be recognized by Assemblymember Rudy Salas as a Nonprofit of the Year,” said Tom Collishaw, President and CEO of Self-Help Enterprises. “Assemblymember Salas has provided ongoing support to our housing programs – from coordinating back-to-school backpack donations and providing dozens of new coats to students at Self-Help Enterprises’ apartment rental communities in Kern County to volunteering several times at our self-help construction sites.”

“Nonprofits make California communities stronger, yet we’re often so busy that we don’t toot our own horns about the work we’re doing,” explains Jan Masaoka, CEO of the California Association of Nonprofits (CalNonprofits). “California Nonprofits Day is an opportunity for our elected officials to recognize the good work they see nonprofits doing in their districts, and it also demonstrates the larger collective impact of nonprofits throughout California.”

Additional Background

California Nonprofits Day, now in its third year, was formally recognized by Assembly Concurrent Resolution 191, authored by the chair of the Assembly Select Committee on the Nonprofit Sector, Assemblywoman Monique Limón (Santa Barbara), who will speak at the celebration luncheon. The day is organized by Assemblymember Limón and CalNonprofits.

According to “Causes Count,” a 2016 report commissioned by CalNonprofits, the nonprofit sector is the 4^th largest industry in the state, employing nearly one million people. Each year, California nonprofits generate over $200 billion in revenue and bring in $40 billion in revenue from outside of California. The unpaid labor contributed by volunteers at nonprofits is equivalent to 450,000 full-time jobs every year.