By Faughn Economy 0 Comments

Tulare County Economic Forecast: Cities sprouting business seeds

From the grand opening of mom-and-pop shops in the revitalized downtown Tulare region to the groundbreaking and celebration for one of the region’s biggest entertainment venues, Tulare County looks to build on successes from 2025, carrying that momentum and motivation into 2026 and beyond.

Tulare growth

The City of Tulare saw its downtown region undergo revitalization in 2025, efforts that build upon the city’s focus in expanding opportunities for local businesses, building momentum for additional economic growth, with room to expand going into 2026.

The recent grand openings of Tulare Supreme Cabinet & Granite and The 26th Hour — a new “speakeasy” venue in downtown Tulare, speak to the broad-scope growth and variance in business the region has seen and hopes to see moving forward. Tulare Chamber of Commerce CEO Donette Silva said that two grant programs, as well as the Taste Program — a grant-program targeted at restaurant development — have helped grow the region significantly and hope to continue that growth moving forward.

“We have interest from others that are looking at the downtown area,” she said, adding that, aside from downtown expansion and growth opportunities, large-scale retailers have shown interest in the city as well.


Grassroots effort

She credited some of the growth — the development of a new Save Mart Supermarket, expected to open in 2027 — to former Tulare City Councilmember Greg Nunley and his family, who have worked to attract the retailer to the region.

“We’re excited to partner with The Save Mart Companies to deliver a high-quality shopping experience for Tulare families,” Nunley said in a news release earlier this year. “The Nunley Family extends their gratitude to everyone for their dedication and collaboration in making this project possible.”

Tulare has also attracted big brand names Chick-fil-A and McDonalds to the Mooney Boulevard corridor as well, furthering opportunities for investment into the community.

Tulare also saw the first successful concert season at the newly completed Adventist Health Amphitheater at Zumwalt Park, something that Silva said not only attracts concertgoers, but encourages them to stop and spend money, further stimulating the region’s economic footprint. The venue has teased its 2026 calendar on its website, with the hope that its second season proves as successful as its first which saw headliners Los Lobos, Dokken and A Flock of Seagulls perform, among other local up-and-coming artists.

Visalia on the rise

The City of Visalia also has an eye on 2026, in particular in industrial logistics, retail growth and infrastructure preparation.

As the Visalia Industrial Park — a $130 million project that seeks to connect Visalia to Highway 99 and improve travel in the region — nears completion, large parcels of land will become available for development.

Building off a strong 2025, the city will continue its focus on expansion in 2026, with zoning/infill incentive programs in place, and a new project tracker website, where infrastructure projects can be tracked individually.

In 2026, Visalia aims to transition from foundation-building to execution, aiming to stimulate economic growth through years of continued pre-development for future projects that look to come to fruition in the coming years.


World Ag Expo leadership

The International Agri Center’s World Ag Expo is under the leadership of a new show chairman, and the global event hopes to see an even larger turnout in 2026.

Now under the leadership of Tulare native Ron Clark, the 2026 show theme, “Grounds for Innovation” will seek to highlight the event space, featuring cutting-edge ag technology on display for both visitors and prospective buyers.

The 2025 expo saw more than 100,000 visitors from 49 states and 80 countries, with the 2026 show hoping to surpass those numbers. Tulare Chamber’s Silva said that between 80-90% of exhibitor space has already been reserved for this year’s show.

“Our team is hard at work preparing for next year’s show,” said International Agri-Center CEO Jerry Sinift. “We are happy to continue providing a place for the agriculture community to connect, learn, and grow.”

In addition to next year’s expo, the space around the International Agri Center hopes to undergo major expansion over the next several years; Silva said that conversations have been underway with businesses interested in the over 300 acres of space near the center, adding that the real estate is perfect for not only vendors and store owners, but also hoteliers looking to capitalize on the annual event’s popularity, as well as the attractions of local national parks and other tourism-driven enterprises.

For visitors who come from California, traveling is also expected to become easier over the next several years, with infrastructure improvements to Highway 99 expected to be completed in 2027, with some parts, including sections of freeway near the Agri Center, slated to open as soon as next year.


Wheels up, chips down

This year has brought with it a rise in community investment and business growth for the Porterville community, with that investment paying dividends in anticipated growth in the upcoming year.

City of Porterville Development Associate Magdalena Salazar said that the city’s combined addition of new retail, housing, tourism assets, workforce programs and infrastructure modernization will create a strong foundation for continued economic growth in 2026 and beyond. She highlighted the work the city has done in 2025 along Henderson Avenue, Main Street and Riverwalk Marketplace.

“Porterville’s continued progress reflects strong collaboration among the City, the Tule River Tribe, local organizations, and the business community,” she said. “The City’s commitment to business-friendly processes, community investment, beautification efforts, and quality-of-life improvements is positioning Porterville as one of the most promising growth areas in the Central Valley.”

Construction on Eagle Mountain Casino’s hotel broke ground in 2025 and will continue throughout 2026, driving the future of the casino and the Tule River Tribe’s vision to revitalize the casino’s footprint in the Valley. Upon completion in 2027, the 250-room hotel and expanded entertainment center will support up to 1,000 jobs, driving additional tourism to the region.

The casino relocated to within city limits in 2023, phase one of a three-phase project that looks to build on the legacy and success of the tribal gaming center.

Nearby, the Porterville Municipal Airport is undergoing a multi-year upgrade project, including a $4.44 million taxiway project that will allow larger airport operations and support additional aviation-based businesses to the city. This year will also see the addition of the Henderson Commercial Project, a 92,000 square-foot retail center including a grocery store, drive-thru restaurants and a 24-hour pharmacy. Approved late this year, the project will bring a slew of new jobs to the Highway 65 corridor.

https://thebusinessjournal.com/tulare-county-economic-forecast-cities-sprouting-business-seeds/

By Faughn Economy • Quality of Life 0 Comments

Ribbon cut on Hanford’s new transportation hub

With the ribbon cutting ceremony on Saturday afternoon, the new Kings Area Regional Transit  Center is finally a reality. The $31 million investment in the county’s public transportation is now within a couple of months from starting bus service from this location in the heart of Downtown Hanford.

Speakers at the ceremony included Kings County Area Public Transit Agency (KCAPTA) Chairman Joe Neves, California State Assemblymember Alexandra Macedo, California State  Senator Melissa Hurtado, Congressman David Valadao’s representative Rachel Clement and KCAPTA Director Angie Dow.

The main transit building covers 19,000 square feet, while the outdoor Bus Bay and outdoor waiting area is a massive 61,000 square feet. The entire four-acre site covers a massive 174,000 square feet within the bounds of Seventh Street to the south, Eighth Street to the north, Harris Street to the west and Brown Street to the east.

https://hanfordsentinel.com/business/ribbon-cut-on-hanfords-new-transportation-hub/collection_d9c2853b-ad05-4745-923d-a8790cf8196f.html#2

By Faughn Economy • Workforce 0 Comments

Millions in funding coming to Merced to train workers and businesses in Ag technology

More than $9 million is coming to Merced for the development of more jobs in agriculture technology. The grant was awarded by California Governor Gavin Newsom on Aug. 28 as part of the Jobs First initiative. The latest step awarded a total of $80 million to different regions across the state, with the mission to offer half a million job apprenticeships by 2029.

The Merced funding was given to the Community Foundation of Merced County, a nonprofit organization that funnels philanthropic donations into community projects. The foundation will receive roughly $9.2 million to distribute to Merced College and UC Merced for infrastructure in the agricultural technology industry. Merced College officials say the money is the state’s largest AgTEC (Agrifood Technology and Engineering Collaborative) award to date.

According to Cody Jacobsen, the dean of agriculture and industrial technology at Merced College, the money will be used to build several projects. One is the AgTEC innovation center, which is already under construction. Officials broke ground on the $21 million center in April, and it’s expected to house meat, tree nut, fruit and vegetable processing plants, a nutrition center for research, and a retail farm market to sell products. Reservoir Farms will also run an incubator facility for startup companies to test their products on campus.

Jacobsen told KVPR the projects are expected to lead to 3,000 jobs that pay above minimum wage.

“You have all these different pieces of equipment that tie into AgTEC, but you don’t have operators, you don’t have engineers, you don’t have the folks that are repairing all of these pieces of equipment,” Jacobsen said. “So that’s really where we come into play.”

UC Merced will also funnel around $3 million to build an AgTEC barn. The barn will house equipment and create a space to service robots and sensors.

Jobs for a new era of farming

The No. 1 goal for Merced College is to bring more businesses and train up workers for the future of agriculture. Jacobsen said seven students have graduated from the AgTEC Workforce Initiative program since it began a year ago, and 137 are currently enrolled. The program is competency-based, which means students complete the certification based on mastery of skills, rather than learning the content over a certain period of time.

The framework is meant to accelerate learning for those who already work on farms in the Central Valley.

“Some students, they can breeze through the [program] in six months. Others, it may take them two, three years, but it was made for that specific purpose,” Jacobsen said. “… Today is probably the busiest day in agriculture in California. There are hundreds of commodities that are being harvested today.”

Along with jobs, Jacobsen said program coordinators hope to attract start-up businesses. Reservoir Farms’ incubator on campus is expected to support more than 100 AgTEC-related companies looking to test their products. The nonprofit also plans to offer 250 internships to students to work within those companies and potentially find employment through them.

“One of the hardest and difficult things for companies in the Valley is finding talent and finding employees,” Jacobsen said. “If we have an internship pipeline for a lot of these start-up companies, it’ll allow for those startups to check one of those things off the checklist of things that are hard to find – and that’s finding a quality workforce.”

Protecting farmworkers, state answers region’s needs

As farming takes on a new stage of growth, Stephanie Dietz, the executive director of the Community Foundation, is keeping the families of farmworkers top of mind. Dietz told KVPR the grant fulfills the goal of avoiding displacement for those already on Merced’s farms.

“We want to make sure our farmer population isn’t without employment roads and has the opportunities necessary to retain employment and gain those skills,” Dietz said. “We want to make sure that we’re centering these trainings and these opportunities around the people who are already doing the work and not just seeing displacement.”

The Trump administration’s recent immigration raids on agricultural land in California and across the country have caused some farmworkers to stop working out of fear of deportation. But, Dietz thinks that won’t deter them from achieving higher education.

“Educational institutions are trusted institutions amongst our farmworker population, and they can be seen as places of refuge and places for opportunity,” Dietz said. “I don’t see that changing with this investment… We at the Community Foundation are here to support both farmworker families and educational institutions in the work that they’re doing.”

Dietz told KVPR the grant funding is a result of groups such as North Valley Thrive, a coalition of community organizations, institutions, and government agencies advocating for regional needs. Because of this, Dietz said she believes Merced is now the Central Valley’s epicenter of the next wave of technology for agriculture.

“This now creates an opportunity for us to be resilient in the face of climate change, to be resilient in the face of new technologies coming online, to be able to farm and maintain an economic engine in our community,” Dietz said. “…That creates a workforce ready for the future so that we can stay one of the largest [agriculture] economies in the country and in the world.”

https://www.kvpr.org/local-news/2025-09-05/millions-in-funding-coming-to-merced-to-train-workers-and-businesses-in-ag-technology

By Faughn Economy 0 Comments

Behind the Scenes at Merced County’s Landfill – It’s More Than Just Garbage! 

Today I had the chance to see firsthand the inspiring work being done by the Merced County Regional Waste Management Authority – and wow, what a huge operation!
This Joint Powers Authority (JPA), contracted with all the cities in Merced County, is running a sophisticated, science-driven operation. It’s not just a place where trash gets dumped. From environmental protection measures to recycling programs, methane gas capture, and careful waste processing, every step is designed to protect our community and our planet.
I had no idea how much planning, engineering, and science went into what happens after you throw something away. It’s an incredible example of regional cooperation and innovation at work.
Huge thanks to the entire Waste Authority team for turning what most of us overlook into an impressive system that keeps Merced County clean, sustainable, and forward-thinking. Thank you, James Moore, for the tour.
By Faughn Economy • New Developments 0 Comments

Madera County begins multi-million-dollar Rio Mesa Blvd expansion project

A multi-million-dollar project that will expand Rio Mesa Boulevard in Madera County broke ground Thursday. The project was first envisioned in 1995.

Officials say that this paves the path forward for a safer commute and infrastructure that will serve residents, homeowners, businesses and drivers for generations to come.

Madera County Supervisor Bobby Macaulay said that Thursday’s celebration is more than just the start of a road project. “It’s the beginning of a long-planned investment in the future of Madera County,” Macaulay said.

The project will have modern infrastructure, a multimodal design and utilities built to support full build-out, Macaulay said. It will have two travel lanes, a bike lane, landscaping and a total right-of-way. The Highway 41 bypass project design will stretch from Avenue 15 to Avenue 12. Completion of the project’s first phase is slated for 2026.

https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/local-news/rio-mesa-boulevard-expansion/

By Faughn Economy • Education • Workforce 0 Comments

Fresno Area’s Newest College Grads Boast Nearly $24 Billion in Earning Power

Thousands of students are graduating from local universities and transitioning into the work world, bringing fresh faces and ideas — and immense career earning power. Fresno County is home to Fresno State, Fresno Pacific, and California Health Sciences University. Additionally, University of California, Merced is just an hour away. The four universities report a total of almost 8,500 students walking at commencement this spring. This includes hundreds of students receiving master’s and doctorate degrees. Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce says a bachelor’s degree holder will earn a median average of $2.8 million during their career — 75% more than the median average for a high school grad ($1.6 million). Multiply the Fresno area’s 8,500 college graduates by $2.8 million and their career earning power computes to $23.8 billion.

However, the figure is conservative because of California’s higher wages and the expected lifetime earnings of grads with master’s degrees ($3.2 million) and doctorates ($4 million). And it doesn’t include 2025 graduates from schools such as University of Phoenix-Fresno and National University-Fresno. Now here’s more good news for the Fresno economy: Much of that income will be generated, invested, and spent here. Based on data from Lightcast, an economic data mining service that the CSU partners with, of the 20,701 public profiles of Fresno State alumni who graduated between 2015 and 2025, 83.96% live and work in Central California, said Fresno State public information officer Lisa Bell. The other universities do not track where students go after college, but an analysis by Tallo, a website that connects students with resources, showed that 61% of college students plan on finding a job close to where they attended college. In addition, UC Merced and Fresno State report that over 50% of the graduating class are first-generation students.

Top Majors Among Graduates

The programs promising the highest pay are all STEM courses, but there is a wide variety of top majors from the four universities. Engineering and computer science are highest-paying majors according to Forbes. Both were a part of UC Merced’s most popular majors alongside biological sciences. However, Fresno States’ top majors were psychology, liberal studies, and biology. Fresno Pacific undergrads swayed towards liberal arts and early childhood development. There’s a clear mix of humanities, social sciences, and sciences among the Central Valley graduates, promising an even distribution between fields. California Health Sciences University had 109 medical students, and 22 master’s program students graduate with 23% completing residencies in the Central Valley. Sixty percent of the residencies are in Primary Care.

Breakdown of Colleges and Degrees

Fresno State had the biggest graduating class with 6,018 students walking at commencement: 5,125 receiving bachelor’s degrees and 866 getting their master’s. The doctoral cohorts and candidates consisted of 58 students receiving Doctor of Physical Therapy, Doctor of Educational Leadership, and Doctor of Nursing Practice. The College of Science and Mathematics had the largest class with a little over 1,000 graduates. UC Merced had 1,417 students walk at commencement with 1,296 getting a bachelor’s degree, 41 receiving a master’s degree, and 80 obtaining doctorates. The School of Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts had the largest class with 781 students walking. Fresno Pacific held ceremonies for 863 students graduating this spring. There were 467 students completing a bachelor’s degree and 396 students finishing a master’s degree. The largest number of students, 636, graduated from the School of Graduate and Professional Studies.

https://gvwire.com/2025/06/20/fresno-areas-newest-college-grads-boast-nearly-24-billion-in-earning-power/

By Faughn Economy • New Developments • Tourism • Workforce 0 Comments

Visalia’s retail growth just doubled the national average, what’s behind the surge?

The Visalia metropolitan area more than doubled the national average for retail growth between 2020 and 2024, according to an analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics numbers. The report, conducted by Michigan-based printer Printastic, ranked the area 27th for retail establishment growth among midsize U.S. metropolitan areas, with an 8.1% increase. The analysis also showed that retail employment in the area increased 9.5% during the same period. Nationally, the increase in retail stores was 3.7% between 2020 and 2024, according to the report. The study showed that there were 1,123 retail establishments in the Visalia metro area last year, and they employed a total of 16,668 people. These numbers indicate increases of 84 retail establishments and 1,450 retail employees since 2020.

“That’s consistent with what I’m seeing in terms of new building permit activity for retail and the buildout of new shopping centers across town, not only on Mooney, but in North Visalia (Orchard Walk West and the North Costco) and East Visalia (The Hub at Walnut and Lovers Lane, and the second Vallarta by Noble and Lovers Lane),” said Devon Jones, Visalia economic development manager.

Jones offered three reasons for the local growth in retail business.

“First and foremost, we are fortunate to have excellent retail development and property owner partners such as Paynter Realty, Brookfield Properties, the Orosco Group, Cal Gold Development, and the Shehadey and Shannon Families to name a few,” he said. “We’re lucky to have lots of investment interest in Visalia and will continue to be a strong development partner for those that choose to invest in us.”

Jones said that Visalia is fortunate to be the metro center for the Tulare/Kings and southern Fresno County region.

“Being the metro and services hub gives us the benefit of drawing visits from the broader trade area population beyond our own city’s population,” Jones said. “This gives us a true ability to provide quality sites for regional retail tenants. This is in addition to the flow of visitors we see annually for Convention Center events and the Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks.”

Lastly, Jones said that the city is remains focused on the “basic formula” for sound economic development and economic diversification.

“That is, creating primary jobs that add outside wealth into the local economy to spur new job creation that leads to new housing demand, which in turn generates more demand for local services such as retail, healthcare, education, etc.,” Jones said.

Primary jobs are those that produce goods and services in excess of what can be consumed at the local level, thereby exporting income into the local economy, he explained.

“Essentially, this export income grows the local economic pie that we divide up amongst ourselves – other businesses/vendors, public agencies, local services,” Jones said.

“In Visalia, we are blessed to have many primary job sectors including health care and tourism, but the sectors with the greatest reach are those typically found in our industrial park, such as food processing, manufacturing, and logistics/distribution,” he added. “Many of these businesses serve international, nationwide, or Western U.S. markets. Luckily, we have lots of great companies in our industrial park and again, have strong industrial development partners that will help us to realize more growth for years to come.”

There is an effort to encourage future growth, according to Jones.

“We will continue to focus on economic diversification and primary job creation as a core economic development priority, and also be a strong development partner for those seeking to invest in Visalia, whether it be commercial, industrial, or residential,” he said.

https://www.visaliatimesdelta.com/story/news/local/2025/05/15/visalia-metropolitan-retail-area-is-booming-heres-whats-driving-growth/83589547007/

By Faughn Economy • Top Stories 0 Comments

Central Valley cities, counties lead California in population and housing growth

On May 1, the California Department of Finance released a report highlighting the state’s 108,000-person increase during the 2024 calendar year.

In addition to the 108,000-person increase, California also saw an increase in K–8 enrollment of 13,890 students, a nearly 25,300-person increase in the 65-and-older population and the natural increase (births minus deaths) contributed 114,805 people, up almost 10,000 from 2023. The Central Valley followed these trends—Fresno County’s increase of 0.9% put it at the third-highest rate in California, while Tulare County’s 0.7% increase put it in sixth.

Lassen County, located in northeast California along the Nevada border, had the highest increase rate, at 2.9%.

At 2.7%, Madera County had the highest housing growth among all counties. Kings County was the eighth-highest county with a 1.2% increase. The state average housing growth for all counties was 0.8%.

With a city population of 557,032, Fresno was the fifth most populous city in California, behind Los Angeles (3,835,263), San Diego (1,408,937), San Jose (979,415) and San Francisco (842,027). Bakersfield was ninth with a population of 419,238.

Hanford and Tulare were among the fastest-growing cities with populations over 30,000, with increases of 2.3% and 2.0%, respectively.

Fresno County’s Huron and Firebaugh both made the top 10 for multi-family housing unit growth. Huron was fifth with a 13.73% growth, while Firebaugh was 10th at 9.81%.

https://thebusinessjournal.com/central-valley-cities-counties-lead-california-in-population-and-housing-growth/?mc_cid=47909cbf57&fbclid=IwY2xjawKTUdFleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBicmlkETFEQ3p6WXB5U0x2VE9JRmJVAR5UGJn3VvA_zQujEXiTcHxmxrnhKlT4jDsRAXdIOdDSASYekJGLLSlm-KMdwA_aem_XiAjxnVejOjnVtlzoOyBrA

By Faughn Economy • Education • Food Processing • Top Stories 0 Comments

‘Overnight success that has taken 30 years’: Wonderful’s Resnick jokes with audience at Shafter ribbon-cutting

His success in business is evident across the southern Central Valley, in sprawling ag fields and in a large distribution hub in Shafter. But it’s not often Stewart Resnick is seen at large events in Kern County. Late Thursday morning, though, the co-owner of Los Angeles-based The Wonderful Co. walked up, stood before an audience of more than 200 people just north of 7th Standard Road and took a moment to adjust the microphone downward. Then he opened with a joke.

Resnick, diminutive in a blue button-down, long-sleeve shirt and jeans, said normally when he comes to such events people look around and say, “You’re Stewart Resnick?”

“I say, ‘I used to be 6 foot 4. My competition came and beat me into the ground,'” he said.

He’s humble, folks. Even when surrounded by dignitaries celebrating another one of his company’s large investments in the local economy. Resnick had come to join them to mark the opening of Wonderful’s new Amenities Center, a gleaming new complex with a tech training center, office building and subsidized restaurant with an urgent care center still to come. The center serves as the welcoming heart of the Wonderful Logistics Center, which the company proposes to almost double in the years to come. If the City Council approves, the company hopes also to build thousands of new homes for workers and their families.

Resnick called the already large development “one of our most ambitious projects,” a state-of-the-art facility populated by Fortune 500 companies on land where three decades ago there were only orchards.

“This is an overnight success that has taken 30 years,” he quipped after thanking those in attendance for sharing the day.

“Now let’s go show the world what Shafter and the Central Valley can do!” he said in closing.

Wonderful has already had a big impact on farming communities in the valley portion of Kern County, especially in Lost Hills and Delano, where in addition to being a major employer, the company has opened charter academies, wellness centers and more. Shafter is the next big focus. If Wonderful moves forward with an expansion of the distribution-center hub, the logistics center’s employment base is expected to expand over time from about 13,000 to 50,000. Housing units the company proposes to build would expand Shafter’s population by about 40%. The Amenities Center is sort of a precursor to those developments. Its training center works in partnership with Amazon and Bakersfield College to introduce job-seekers to tech-oriented warehouse jobs. The office building boasts numerous art pieces, and the restaurant serves healthy meals at relatively low prices.

Thursday’s gathering drew representatives of many of Kern’s most prominent business, government and educational organizations, many of whom accepted offers to tour the new buildings. Resnick’s humility was matched by that of invited speaker Supervisor David Couch, who said he was coming from a local government perspective when he told the audience, “We can’t do anything, and I mean anything, until you all make something, provide a service.”

“The revenue that local government gets comes because you all come to work every day,” Couch said. “It all starts because somebody … took the risk to invest their money in this community.”

Shafter Mayor Chad Givens was up next. He said the city prides itself on how business operates in Shafter and how it is able to move in operators as fast as possible.

“We’re a very business friendly city and we’re thankful for that,” he said before expressing gratitude to Wonderful for its work in the city.

Former City Manager John Guinn, now Wonderful Real Estate’s executive vice president and chief operating officer, told the crowd Resnick and his wife, Lynda Resnick, have shown their commitment to the families of the Central Valley. In his experience, they want nothing more than for the region to become a strong, vibrant place to live.

“Everything they talk about, they actually do,” he said. “That’s uncommon.”

https://www.bakersfield.com/news/overnight-success-that-has-taken-30-years-wonderfuls-resnick-jokes-with-audience-at-shafter-ribbon/article_69e65582-0b2f-4266-bec6-8130c9954d6e.html

By Faughn Economy • New Developments 0 Comments

Dignity Village opens in Modesto with 42 tiny homes. A place to stop the downhill slide

A 42-unit complex providing interim housing for people battling homelessness and other challenges has opened in Modesto.

Ceremonies were held Thursday for Dignity Village, at the corner of Ninth and E streets, and the first residents will start moving in this weekend.

Officials said the 42 tiny houses will provide a safe and comfortable home for adults while they recover from substance use and mental health disorders. The housing program will include services and support to help them with their individual challenges.

Stanislaus County and the city of Modesto were partners in the project, which also engaged community groups in preparing the units for the first tenants. Volunteers and local groups adopted cabins and, on March 22, decorated the small units without knowing who would occupy them.

A team of case managers and social workers from the Stanislaus County Public Defender’s Office adopted a cabin and brought in toiletries, pictures, curtains, pillows and a welcome mat.

The unit was fresh off construction, so the team first wiped away the dust on the ceiling and the floor.

“If you have been on the streets for a long time, it’s a rough transition at first,” said Shelli Margarite, a client support manager who posed for a picture with co-workers at the cabin. “We really wanted to make it a home.” Mayor Sue Zwahlen expressed hope that Dignity Village can make a difference as the city grapples with the homeless crisis. “Having a roof over their heads gives them a real chance for recovery and hope for a better tomorrow,” Zwahlen said.

The county and Modesto collaborated with Dignity Moves to develop the complex on city-owned property after Stanislaus County was awarded more than $3 million in state Behavioral Health Bridge Housing Program funds in June 2023.

The fenced complex has toilets, showers, dining areas, offices, laundry, social areas and a dog run. Residents will stay in the interim housing for three to six months until ready for the next step to permanent housing.

Ruben Imperial, director of county Behavioral Health and Recovery Services, said those participating in Community Assistance, Recovery and Empowerment Court will have priority for some housing units as clients comply with treatment plans for mental disorders.For participants in CARE Court, the state program known for court-supervised treatment of adults with schizophrenic disorders, access to housing is considered essential. But Dignity Village also will house adults getting substance use therapy through Senate Bill 43 and other behavioral health programs.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/dignity-village-opens-modesto-42-201148720.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly9jaGF0Z3B0LmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAGEoMKQD4h0ZeuRcxvTURNdyW5vt6z6tHIPppFtbhnpCE_YF0uBThuR3NQFmvb5dvyqM6pRZvuijWQmS721MampW8DFUyvaNSZup19rzWBGyKRuCMOCHHyuKsfL7KbQkTLCy494QKqENb09CkCmC1K9xe9h_HiwHteSkd63tQMYC&guccounter=2