Discover what's stirring in Hanford as we unpack the dynamic changes afoot, from the local government's latest moves to the vibrant community initiatives making waves. We kick off with a peek behind the curtain of the Hanford City Council's latest meeting – new faces in blue, the debate over caffeine near preschoolers, and the financial upkeep of our city's lifelines. Plus, we celebrate our local high school bands' high notes and spotlight the FFA students cultivating success. And for those with a penchant for pop culture, get the lowdown on the Hanford Toy Anime Comic Con, ensuring your calendar's as colorful as our downtown murals.
Then, we shift gears and welcome Dave Clevenger of King's Gospel Mission, who brings to light the challenges and triumphs in combating homelessness in our community. Imagine the impact of a stable home, a day's work that instills pride, and a safety net woven by a community that cares. Witness the transformation from vacant lots to vibrant homes, a testament to what can be achieved when compassion meets action. Engaging with Dave, we explore the mission's path from adversity to inspiring milestones and how every Hanford resident can be a beacon of hope in this collective journey. Join us for stories that resonate with community spirit and practical ways to be part of the change right here at home.
You can find the Hanford Insider at www.hanfordinsider.com and on social media at @hanfordinsider Thank you for supporting the show!
Discover what's stirring in Hanford as we unpack the dynamic changes afoot, from the local government's latest moves to the vibrant community initiatives making waves. We kick off with a peek behind the curtain of the Hanford City Council's latest meeting – new faces in blue, the debate over caffeine near preschoolers, and the financial upkeep of our city's lifelines. Plus, we celebrate our local high school bands' high notes and spotlight the FFA students cultivating success. And for those with a penchant for pop culture, get the lowdown on the Hanford Toy Anime Comic Con, ensuring your calendar's as colorful as our downtown murals.
Then, we shift gears and welcome Dave Clevenger of King's Gospel Mission, who brings to light the challenges and triumphs in combating homelessness in our community. Imagine the impact of a stable home, a day's work that instills pride, and a safety net woven by a community that cares. Witness the transformation from vacant lots to vibrant homes, a testament to what can be achieved when compassion meets action. Engaging with Dave, we explore the mission's path from adversity to inspiring milestones and how every Hanford resident can be a beacon of hope in this collective journey. Join us for stories that resonate with community spirit and practical ways to be part of the change right here at home.
You can find the Hanford Insider at www.hanfordinsider.com and on social media at @hanfordinsider Thank you for supporting the show!
Speaker 1:
On this episode of the Hanford Insider, we'll hear from Dave Clevenger of King's Gospel Mission, rob will give us a quick City Council update and I'll be back to update you on all of the high school sports action heading into Valley Playoffs. This is the Hanford Insider for Monday, february 12th.
Speaker 2:
Welcome to this episode of the Hanford Insider. I'm your host, rob Bentley. Thanks for listening. Before we get going with this week's show, I'd like to let you know that, starting this week, I'll be sending out a weekly Hanford Insider newsletter that will highlight some of the topics discussed on the show, as well as give you a preview of upcoming episodes. This newsletter will only be available to my email subscribers, so please stop by my website at hanfordinsidercom today and subscribe.
Speaker 2:
At last week's Hanford City Council meeting, the council recognized several pastors who have given the invocation at city council meetings. They also pinned new Hanford police officer, daniel Ortega. The public comment portion of the meeting lasted nearly an hour and the council heard from many residents regarding the bottoms-up coffee shop going in at 10th and Fargo. Before residents spoke, city Attorney Time-A-Zote reminded the audience that, because the property was already zoned for a coffee shop, there was no need to go to the Planning Commission or City Council for approval, recognizing that this is not just any coffee shop, he stated that if the city municipal code regarding the public display of specific body parts is violated, the city will step in and take action. Residents who spoke up against bottoms-up brought up many valid points, especially about the location being so close to the Sunshine Friends Preschool. The coffee shop will open soon and residents of Hanford will have to make a choice to support the shop or not. I would encourage everyone to do their own research. I did a quick Google search and I found that there are more articles about communities opposing the franchise than there are of communities actually being able to shut them down. Look up the social media accounts and website for bottoms-up espresso and decide for yourself if that's the kind of business that you'll support In other business.
Speaker 2:
Last month, the City Council was faced with a difficult decision of raising water rates to meet expenses. At this meeting, there was a public hearing to look at the wastewater rates. Notice was given online in the paper and notices were sent along with utility bills about the hearing. Wastewater rates were last increased in 2011. An increase is needed to pay down debt. There's been a lot of equipment that's been needed to be upgraded over the last five to ten years to meet the demands of our growing city. On March 1st, the average single-family residence wastewater rates will go up from $17.86 to $24.67, and an increase to around $34 each month over the next five years. Two residents spoke in opposition to the rate increase and there were only 12 written protests submitted. It would have taken $9,000 in order to stop the increase.
Speaker 2:
And another public hearing was held to finalize the new mural regulations for downtown Hanford. The old mural regulations were vague and difficult to enforce. The new ordinance language makes it easier to apply for, design and install appropriate murals in the downtown area. Finally, it was announced that Diane Sharp will be leaving Area C and her last City Council meeting will be on April 2nd. The council had the option of filling the vacancy by appointment, holding a special election at a cost of $150,000, or wait until the general election, november 5th, when that seat is already up for election. In the end, the council voted to leave the council seat vacant and not appoint someone, because there seems to be some interest from the people running for City Council in that area in November and it does save the city $150,000. Those wishing to run for City Council in the northeast corner of the city can begin their campaigns in July. To close the meeting, councilman Martinez again brought up the need to make sure that the Longfield Center is being used to its fullest potential and that all equipment is functioning properly. The next Hanford City Council meeting is February 20th.
Speaker 2:
In other community news, I'd like to give a shout out and congratulations to the marching bands from Hanford High, hanford West and Sierra Pacific on their combined performance at Disneyland this past Friday. Speaking of bands, I'd also like to recognize the students from Woodrow Wilson and Pioneer for representing Hanford in the annual Tulare Kings Honor Band Concert in Porterville on Saturday. Musicians aren't the only students featured this week. How about a big congratulations to these FFA students and administrator for representing Hanford in the Tulare Kings FFA section? Jessalyn Sota, ramon Alcárez and Bailey Duterte were recognized as regional proficiency champions. The regional star administrator award went to Mr Bobby Peters. Selected as state committee chair was Morgan Carroll and selected as state subcommittee chair was Darren Defteros. Congratulations to these outstanding future farmers of America students and their teachers.
Speaker 2:
Here are some things coming up on our community calendar. The Hanford Fox Theater is still selling tickets for the Journey in Peter Frampton Tribute Band's concert on Saturday, february 17th. Good seats are still available at foxhanfordcom. The annual Hanford Toy Anime Comic Con will be held on Sunday, february 18th from 11 to 4 at the Hanford Journal Hall. Hanford High School will be presenting the Adams Family Musical on February 29th through March 2nd at the Presentation Center. Tickets are available at the door.
Speaker 2:
The SROPTIMUS club is holding the Dreamit Be it conference for teenage girls on Saturday, march 2nd in the Hanford West High School cafeteria. Career support for girls gives girls the tools they need to achieve their education and career goals, empowering them to break cycles of poverty, violence and abuse. Find out more about this event at sihanfordorg. I'll be grabbing events as I see them on the Hanford Sentinel calendar and social media pages. If you have an event coming up and you'd like some help getting the word out, let's work together. Send your information to hanfordinsider at gmailcom.
Speaker 2:
Homelessness Unhoused no matter how you label them, we need to step up as a community to help those in need. Dave Clevenger is a 22 year veteran of the United States Navy. He is a visionary leader, community builder and a serial entrepreneur. He is the CEO of Community Impact Corps Incorporated, which holds a contract for day to day operations over several years. He is the CEO of Community Impact Corps Incorporated, which holds a contract for day to day operations oversight of King's Gospel Mission and Cornerstone Ministries. Dave has no fiduciary responsibility of King's Gospel Mission and that function is the responsibility of the board of directors. The contract enhances King's Gospel Mission and that the organization can focus on helping clients and the overhead functions are managed by capable contracted staff. Well, welcome to the show, dave.
Speaker 3:
Thanks, Rob. I appreciate the opportunity to talk with you.
Speaker 2:
Dave, you are definitely an important figure in the community. You have a lot of support with the King's Gospel Mission. Before we get into some of the details of what is going on currently, can you give us a little bit of background on what happens with King's Gospel Mission and how it got its start?
Speaker 3:
King's Gospel Mission got its start back in 2015 when a group of us sort of revived a nonprofit that was long-standing local here in the area that was having some trouble and we started with six men in a recovery program to help them get out of homelessness and work through the challenges of homelessness. And we've grown over the last eight years to include over 70 men and women in our daily activities here in King's County and are expanding in a lot of ways I'm sure that some people have heard about with this South Hanford Triangle project.
Speaker 2:
So I know you have other activities and projects that you're involved in. I know there's the recycling plant, there's the guys that go around and clean up downtown Definitely a service to the community. Can you fill in on some of those details?
Speaker 3:
Kind of got to start back with the three real strong principles that we focus our time and energy on, because it colors what we do within the community right. When people experience homelessness, there's a deep amount of trauma that happens and to come out of that trauma, there's really three things that are important. The first one, and not the primary one, but the first one is a safe place to call home. And you know, when you and I have a stressful day or we have a good day or we're just tired, we have a place to go and lay our head, that has our stuff there, our people there. It's home. It's a safe place for us to get sleep. Well, the situation of homelessness is absent of that. It is very violent, unsafe, lots of sleeplessness, there's just lots of noise. It's not a good place for you to get a good, restful sleep, and so replacing that and shelters are not safe places to call home. They're a temporary step. It's the reason why there's been so much emphasis on permanent supportive housing is the thing you'll hear, or affordable housing is, because that is a key thing is to, even if it's just a room that has your bed, your pillow, your stuff in it. It is one of the key steps.
Speaker 3:
The second thing for us is work, or positive, purposeful activities. If you don't work, then you need to volunteer. You need to have something to look forward to day to day. Right, for most of us that is a job, and so King's Gospel Mission is very interested in providing work opportunities for anybody who joins our crowd, and people are very diverse. Right, it's the reason we have so many different, various types of things. Right, you pick any subject. There's lots of variety. So finding a job for somebody or getting somebody in gainful employment is a difficult challenge. So you have to have a diverse offering of things that you do For us. We have we have cleaning, we have yard service, we have downtown thrift stores, we have recycling centers. We do a lot of work in various settings. A lot of our staff actually are foreign or homeless folks and they're really good at peer support intervention because they've lived that circumstance before. They're just shared experience there. So essentially, the second piece to this is find a job that somebody can do well and then encourage them, remove barriers for them to be able to do that.
Speaker 3:
And then the third thing is this supportive environment, shared experience, peer support, community environment and the reason for that is look, I've never experienced homelessness, right, I'm a retired military guy. I have deep shared experiences with my military experience. And in the corollary there is I served in Afghanistan for a year. I can bump in in any Afghan vet anywhere and we know the taste, the sights, the smells, the experience of it. Right, we don't even have to have known each other over there, but we know the experience. It's the same with homelessness. So if you have somebody that successfully exited homelessness now helping somebody who's currently stuck in homelessness, there's a deep bond, a deep shared experience there and they help each other sort that out. So, kings of the Lost Mission, really in the business of leveraging those three things safe place to go home, a job or positive, purposeful activity and a shared experience, supportive environment.
Speaker 2:
So, dave, we don't have to look for to find people experiencing homelessness, people downtown shopping centers and our neighborhoods. What are some things that you think the community should know about your friends and others on the streets that are experiencing homelessness in Hanford and the surrounding area? How can we support them and what types of problems do you see with them and things that they're experiencing?
Speaker 3:
Okay. So look, let's let's dispel some myths right off the bat. The problem of homelessness is growing and there are a lot of reasons why somebody becomes homeless. There's a very highly correlated reason and the state is and actually nationally, is recognizing that this is the major cause of it and that's the cost of housing. It is pushing people into instability. There's lots of people that live two or three families deep to the Ford rents. There are folks that are losing their housing because of job instability or familial instability, but it really comes down to this affordability as the most highly correlated thing.
Speaker 3:
But there's a whole lot of other reasons and, sure, we have a lot of discussion about whether, you know, folks are lazy, or they're drug addicted, or something that's mentally affected that's caused them to be homeless. The thing I will say is you have a hundred different homeless people, right, they have a hundred different reasons and ways that they wound up being homeless. Right, there's a bunch of circumstances and that's diverse. It's diversity. All of us are so different from one another. Our circumstances are different, yet there's this reason that it's growing and it's highly correlated to the lack of affordable housing. So let's just start there. Right, we can make assumptions when we see somebody, we have no idea what their stories are, the stories that I've met, some of the people that have been successful out of homelessness. What I've been able to hear is just, it's amazing and atrocious what people go through. Right, but I will tell you this, the people who land there are in a circumstance that is an absolute social atrocity. And the reason I say that is if, even if you were a completely well adjusted individual, had a job able to support yourself, a good member of society, everything's going well for you, except that you can't have a place to go live.
Speaker 3:
When you meet the street, you're faced with a lack of self-dignity that is deep. You clearly have not made it in society, right, you're met with tremendous amounts of violence and manipulation and, frankly, it's because people are trying to exist in a terrible circumstance. Right, there is lots of drugs and alcohol available, and the reason that that's also prevalently used is because, when you're suffering from this lack of dignity and no other options, what do we do? When we have tremendous pain in our lives, emotional pain we try and numb it. This is a highly correlated thing in the mental health world Addiction, therapy, addiction, intervention.
Speaker 3:
There are numerous types of addiction, there's over-eating, there's shopping, there's lots of substance abuse, there's illicit relationships. What comes down to all of it is it's highly correlated to having this emotional pain. Well, when you land in homelessness, your life basically really just is on a very low level and you want to numb that pain that you're feeling right. So this on top of that, on top of this, really starts to add to your inability to come out of that on your own, and so, really, the point of King's Gospels Mission and other community benefit organizations that are doing good work is to replace and remove barriers and replace some of those things that have been lost to allow people to regain their dignity and purpose.
Speaker 2:
So, speaking of regaining dignity, I know that King's Gospel Mission has many projects in the works, but one that you're particularly excited about is on 10th Avenue. It's taken a while to get going, but I understand there's some movement there.
Speaker 3:
Yeah, so the King's Triangle Project is four acres on 10th Avenue just north of Home Garden, and that land was bought with money from a donor towards King's Gospel Mission, always with the vision of adding the three things on one site right Need safe places for people to call home, need work opportunities and need a supportive shared experience environment. So it's set up into a courtyard. That's the shared experience environment. You know, when you've got 24 homes set up into a courtyard and the person across the way has a childcare issue or needs groceries or there's something going on, the person who's witnessing that can help and intervene in a lot of ways. Watch the kids, help go. I am going to groceries. Can I get something for you? It's a very supportive environment, safe place to call home. Right, got pillows and beds and et cetera. And then on the front of that is eventually going to have commercial activities a thrift store. It already has a recycling center. It was going to have some retail shops around the front so that people who want to run a barbershop or have some entrepreneurial activity we can assist with incubating that, mentoring it and having some business support there. And the big thing about that project was it's in an area that needs to have some services a thrift store, laundromat, barbershop there's a need for that in South Hanford. Why not have a community benefit organization run that and provide opportunities for the entire community down there to do well with economic activity? That's the vision for a triangle.
Speaker 3:
Yeah, it's had some struggles along the way. Right, this is a home key project. It was awarded a couple of years ago some grant money about $4.3 million from the state, essentially to develop what was a fallow piece of ground, didn't have any water, sewer or electrical in it and so it had to bring that down 10th Avenue and connect it up to the utilities, had to buy the homes that were manufactured homes about 600 square foot, two bedroom, one baths and then develop that entire site. So the King's Gospel Mission put in about 300K. There was a little bit additional grant money that went to it and then that $4.3 million went to the original contractor there.
Speaker 3:
Some of the challenges we had with that project were that the contractor really just didn't do very good work. There was lots of problems along the way. They weren't performing, they weren't allowing the county to guide the project and really at some point the county and King's Gospel Mission agreed that it needed to be pulled back from that contractor and finished. And so Cornerstone, with a little bit of grant activating and a little bit of money that it still had, has progressed that project along to where it's about 95% complete now.
Speaker 3:
But it still needs some remaining funds to get done and it needs about 300,000 remaining to get the 20 homes that are there done. It should be about six weeks to eight weeks to get done completed. There's supposed to be four more ADA compliant accessible units that are going in, which will cost the units themselves a cost right about 600,000, and then installations another couple of hundred thousand. So there's a little bit more to go on the overall project for 24 homes. But to get a few people living down there in 20 homes it'll be about 300,000 and eight weeks.
Speaker 2:
So he's mentioned several times that you have several projects in the works and what are some things that you'd like the community to know about? Maybe some things that are currently happening or things that you have in the works for the future?
Speaker 3:
Yeah, great question. I appreciate that. You know the community at large here has the ability to give to King's Gospel Mission and that giving allows us to grow. So you know, this is the thing King's Gospel Mission has an open front door, right, we serve a lot of people. If we have a very narrow back door, there's a bottleneck there, right. This is the point of that project down there is that by putting in more capacity for jobs and for housing and for supportive community, we're opening up our back door. So naturally, the people who are coming in the front door have an exit into stability.
Speaker 3:
And what the community can do by giving to King's Gospel Mission is allow us to grow our back door right. So these folks work. We have a strong work requirement. We only allow emergency shelter for five days. After that, you either got to work to keep your bed or you got to work, you got to pay to keep your bed, you got to be a part of the production of the facility, and that sustains King's Gospel Mission. The giving is what allows us to grow and as we grow that back door, we gain greater sustainability and we serve more people in a stable environment. And so it's simple. You can find the website and you could, you know, commit to even $20 a month. You may not think that that's much, but I'll tell you, a couple thousand people giving $20 a month is big for the mission. It allows us to do a lot in a person's life.
Speaker 3:
The only other thing that I would encourage you to do is when you see somebody that's suffering homelessness, remember that, yes, there's some transient nature to homelessness, right, but for the most part, the folks who are here are South Valley people. They may come a little bit between Visaya, tulare and other little towns around, depending on circumstances that are going on, but for the most part, they're locals. That's highly correlated. That's been studied. That's been proven objectively that most people are local in their homelessness, right, the thing you got to remember is, every single one of those individuals out there is a human being that is in a very negative community circumstance. They're still living in encampments. They're still dealing with each other day to day. They're still dealing with society day to day, just like the rest of us. The difference is that they're in a very negative circumstance and King's Gospel Mission is providing a very positive community circumstance, and your ability to recognize that and give to it helps somebody move out of that and look, the whole point of community is and we're a community.
Speaker 3:
Hanford is a community right. The root of the word community is with unity, together Together, we're supposed to be taking care of one another, and when we do, we can greatly affect this whole problem. We can take care of what we don't like to see out on the streets. Some of us don't like to see it because we know there's a human being that's suffering in it. Others of us just don't want to have it in our community. I'll tell you what you give it to King's Gospel Mission, we'll get after it, getting it done. We have been for eight years and we've grown tremendously through our community support.
Speaker 2:
So, dave, what is the website that they can go to, what's the website address that they can go to to learn more on how they can support King's Gospel Mission?
Speaker 3:
So we're present at kingsgospelmissionorg. You can also find us in numerous ways on Facebook, either through our thrift store or Cycling Centers, or King's Gospel Mission. We're also available on Instagram, and I would encourage anyone to seek us out in that and we will help you become a part of our journey to help people out of this travesty of homelessness. Well, thank you, dave.
Speaker 2:
so much for coming on the show. It's been a pleasure talking to you and we look forward to talking to you again when the triangle project is open.
Speaker 3:
Rob, I really appreciate the opportunity. Thank you for spending some time with me and I'm happy to answer any more questions in the future.
Speaker 2:
And now it's time for Hanford Insider Sports with Eric Bentley.
Speaker 1:
The central section basketball playoff brackets were released on Saturday and there will be plenty of opportunities to cheer on your teams at home for a playoff matchup For the girls. After being crowned Tri-County Kings Canyon League Champions with a perfect 8-0 league record, sierra Pacific is a four-seed in Division II and will host 13-seed Porterville on Wednesday. The Sierra Pacific program is in good hands too, as the JV team also won the league championship with a 23-3 overall record and undefeated in league play With an 8-2 WYL record. Hanford High earned a six-seed in the D3 bracket and will play host to a 11-seeded Hoover on Wednesday. Hanford West ends up with home court advantage throughout the playoffs as they are the one seed in Division V and will play 16-seed Yosemite at home on Wednesday. On the boys' side, hanford High will look to play spoiler, as they find themselves going on the road as a 15-seed in the D2 bracket to take on two-seed Mission Prep. Hanford West was able to snag the four-seed in Division III and will play host to 13-seed Atascadero on Tuesday. Not too far behind the Huskies is Sierra Pacific, as they are the five-seed in Division III and will host 12-seed Fresno High on Tuesday. Let me keep an eye on, though, if both Hanford West and Sierra Pacific are able to win their first round games, that would set up a Crosstown Playoff Showdown at Hanford West on Thursday. Per the CIF website, all basketball playoff games will start at 6pm.
Speaker 1:
In soccer action, playoff brackets were also released and, unfortunately, on the boys' side, Hanford West and Sierra Pacific saw their seasons come to a close without a playoff birth. Hanford High finishes with a 4-12-9 overall record and will be a 12-seed in Division V, heading on the road to take on five-seed Carothers. On the girls' side, hanford High's successful 12-6-6 season finds them with a tough draw, as they'll be a 12-seed taking on five-seeded Kingsburg on the road. In similar fashion, despite a 10-8-3 overall record, sierra Pacific gets a 13-seed in Division IV and will travel to take on Arvin. Hanford West was able to land a six-seed in Division V, so that means they'll play host to 11-seed Shafter on Tuesday Next week. Not only will we have results from that playoff action, but baseball and softball get started, so we'll keep you up to date with all of the action on the Diamond as well. As always, if you want to send scores or stories, send them to HanfordInsider at gmailcom. I'm Eric Bentley and this has been your Hanford Insider Sports Report.
Speaker 2:
Well, that's all the time we have for today's show. If you enjoyed the podcast, I'd like to ask you to leave a review on your podcast player or on our website. It helps me with the growth of the show. If you'd like to join the Hanford Insider email list, stop by our website at HanfordInsidercom to sign up for updates. I also need your help getting the word out about the show by liking and sharing on social media or telling a friend For more information about the show. You can find this podcast on Facebook, instagram, reds X and YouTube at Hanford Insider. If you have a show idea, be sure to email me at HanfordInsider at gmailcom and I'll get going on it. Thanks for listening. Have a great week.