Our Emergency Services (ES) team recently gave a full tour to our funders at The California State Water Resources Control Board. The state representatives accompanied the team as they carried out various services at three participant locations throughout Madera. 

The first location was for a participant getting their new water well tested for water quality. This is one of the final steps before participants can draw water from their new well and exit the tank water program. Water Quality Specialist, Dan Larkin, demonstrated the step-by-step process and techniques required to sample the water to meet the various testing specifications.  

Their next stop included a newly dry well temporarily replaced by tank water. Luis Rios, our Water Tank Manager, walked everyone through the process of sounding a well, which is a technique of dropping an instrument down a well to see how far down the water is, if there is any at all. A few curious horses also decided to join the presentation to learn a thing or two about water wells.  

Lastly, they met with a participant who was actively having a new well drilled on their property. The ES team and our funders spoke with the well-drilling team and got within inches of an active well-drilling operation! The entire visit was eye-opening to our funders as this gave them a hands-on experience they had only heard about from their office in Sacramento. 

In recent years, Pacific Western Bank has played a critical role in our efforts to provide affordable rental housing opportunities to working families, farmworkers, and individuals experiencing homelessness. For both phases of our completed Sequoia Commons rental community in Goshen, they provided interim construction loans prior to permanent funding sources coming in. Commercial lenders will tell you the highest risk loans they make are during the construction period, and Pacific Western Bank never hesitates to fill that gap.  

More recently, Pacific Western Bank is providing both a construction loan and permanent loan on the first phase of Santa Fe Commons under construction in Tulare. And the latest partnership effort is their commitment for a construction loan for The Neighborhood Village, our manufactured permanent supportive housing project being developed in partnership with local nonprofit Salt + Light Works of Tulare County. This innovative project required a flexible, mission-driven lender, and Pacific Western Bank filled that role without hesitation. We appreciate their partnership more than they can imagine. 

Amidst these unsettling times, there is one thing you can be sure of: Self-Help Enterprises continues to address the basic needs of shelter, water, and community resilience for the most vulnerable among us. 

Our job is to be first responders for those who are unhoused, a family needing an affordable home or apartment, a homeowner with desperate housing repair needs, a household whose well has run dry, or a family whose only barrier to fulfilling their dream of homeownership is a lack of cash down payment. 

SHE is the first responder of opportunity. You can help us continue to empower families and transform communities! 

Your donation is part of a collaborative action to improve the lives of many through the power of giving! Whether it's $25, $50, $100, or something in between, your gift will directly impact your community!