On Monday, December 5th, UPholdings and Self-Help Enterprises hosted a grand opening and ribbon cutting ceremony for Butterfly Gardens, the first-ever, permanent supportive housing development in Clovis. 

Event speakers included County of Fresno Supervisor Nathan Magsig, Clovis Mayor Pro Tem Lynne Ashbeck, Butterfly Gardens resident Precious Madden, and other project supporters and developers. 



"It's so beautiful here," said Precious Madden, who was one of the first residents to move into Butterfly Gardens," I take several classes each week offered by Exodus Recovery. They help me with my anxiety, and I feel like we can grow here as a community. My goal is to go back to school to be a medical biller, and to become a peer support advocate to help others." 

The 75-unit property is located at 784 W. Holland Ave. It features 24-hour live-in support staff who provide access to job training, mental health services, and work collaboratively with local agencies to ensure a healthy and safe community for residents and neighbors. 

Learn more about Butterfly Gardens.

Members of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development leadership team recently had the opportunity to learn more about SHE's Mutual Self-Help Housing program by visiting homes undergoing construction in Orosi.  

The leadership team included State Director Maria Gallegos Herrera, Area Director Yolanda Hauser, Water and Environmental Programs Director Luis Andrade, and many other members who joined the tour to see the homebuilding process up close. They even helped in the lifting of one of the standing walls. Besides framing, the team also learned about setting forms, prepping to pour slabs, and the electrical installation of the homes.  

The Orosi community will soon include a total of 37 new homes. Participants dedicate labor hours, or “sweat equity,” as the down payment on their new home, reducing costs for a new home they could otherwise not afford. SHE also assists each applicant with securing the loans needed to build their home. Special financing from the USDA and the State of California makes these homes affordable. 

SHE’s Community Development Director, Jessi Snyder, recently completed the Water Solutions Network (WSN) program. This year’s 22-member cohort trained to promote better land and water stewardship. Participants collaborated via hybrid sessions, including camping at Redtail Ranch near Groveland, in the Upper Tuolumne watershed west of Yosemite, where they also worked on an ongoing spring restoration project.        

WSN exemplifies what SHE tries to do on the ground every day: build relationships and collaborate to improve lives. By participating, Jessi built relationships with people she’d never otherwise meet, such as folks working on the restoration of the Salton Sea, engineers with East Bay MUD, grassroots organizations, scientists, and many more advocates in the water sector. 

“It was an honor to be part of this group and now part of the larger network," shared Snyder. " I loved getting to know the Tuolumne River watershed in a small way and feeling a part of the changing seasons there. I learned a lot about facilitation, inclusion, and working effectively toward mutually beneficial solutions. The people I got to know through this experience are extraordinary, and I learned something from each of them."