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2023 READERS’ CHOICE AWARDS: RURAL FINALIST

Self-Help Enterprises, a community development organization serving the San Joaquin Valley, has stepped in to help. With the opening of Creekside Terrace—a $21 million, 42-unit housing development—the group has given Mariposa County residents their first affordable rental project in over 20 years.

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The URC TA Program is a collaboration of the Water Foundation, CivicWell, Community Water Center, Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability, Self-Help Enterprises, Community Alliance with Family Farmers, the Nature Conservancy, and the National Audubon Society to increase underrepresented community engagement and capacity in local Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) planning processes.

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What was once an old freight train will soon take locals to larger cities, because the town’s new transit center has broken ground.

“The city’s first transit center was previously based-off the design of the old railroad station in Farmersville, and it’ll be where all the (mainstay) bus lines that run through Farmersville (stop),” project manager at Self-Help Enterprises Jose Flores said.

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State-owned property in the Central Valley is also becoming affordable homes. In April, developer Self-Help Enterprises broke ground on Guardian Village in Reedley, consisting of five residential buildings featuring 22 one-bedroom units, 14 two-bedroom units and 12 three-bedroom units.

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This bill has received endorsements from the following entities: Environmental Defense Fund, Trout Unlimited, the State Water Contractors, Self-Help Enterprises, Audubon, The Native Seed Group, California Native Seed Supply Collaborative, Arroyo Pasajero Mutual Water Company, East Turlock Groundwater Sustainability Agency, East Kaweah Groundwater Sustainability Agency, Woolf Farming, and McConnel Farms.

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The State Water Resources Control Board has identified 389 failing public water systems and 513 systems at risk, while approximately 81,000 domestic wells are also in danger of failing or experiencing water-quality issues. In response, Self-Help Enterprises has initiated a water program in the San Joaquin Valley, ensuring that 1,800 households receive clean drinking water. Additionally, BWT, in partnership with Ingomar Packing Company, the second-largest tomato processor in America, has devised an innovative solution to provide millions of gallons of clean drinking water to Californian’s (via Self-Help Enterprises) that was harvested from tomatoes.

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Collishaw and his organization work with prospective homeowners in the San Joaquin Valley, mostly agricultural workers. To lower the cost of home buying, they combine the Department of Agriculture’s Section 502 Direct Loan Program, which helps people in rural areas achieve homeownership, with sweat equity. Today, some 100 nonprofits in the United States are constructing this “mutual self-help housing.” Self-Help Enterprises is the largest one, and it has a goal of building 100 homes a year in California.“I’ve been doing this for over 40 years, and I believe that farmworkers are uniquely successful in this program,” says Collishaw. “They’re no strangers to hard work.”

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“Access to safe and affordable drinking water is a top priority for many of our San Joaquin Valley underrepresented communities. Strategic funding of surface water infrastructure near our underrepresented communities will help improve access to this important resource,” said Eddie Ocampo, director of Community Sustainability, Self-Help Enterprises. “Senator Feinstein’s RAIN Act is a great opportunity to promote multi-benefit and collaborative support for much-needed regional conveyance infrastructure.”

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The small town of Tooleville ran out of water and started receiving water hauled in by truck on Monday, June 5.

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95 percent of Native American Bank’s loans are made to indigenous communities and help ensure the development and economic independence of tribal communities and businesses. For example, a recent loan to the Tule River Indian Housing Authority in California’s San Joaquin Valley provided crucial gap financing—$2.7 million—to help build the Nupchi Xo’ Oy complex.

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