The Cabrillo Economic Development Corporation (CEDC) will celebrate its 30th anniversary with a family festival and resource fair from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, June 4. The event, “Pathways to Peace and Prosperity,” is free to the public and will take place at Plaza Park, 545 So. “A” St., downtown Oxnard.
“Pathways to Peace and Prosperity” will celebrate 30 years of CEDC’s operations, history and commitment to community revitalization, the organization reported in a media release.
The event will be emceed by media personality David Cruz and will include live music and entertainment, food and games, art and children’s activities, and access to organizations providing education, homeownership and community services.
CEDC Executive Director Rodney Fernandez
The event will also serve as an opportunity for residents to recognize CEDC’s retiring Executive Director Rodney Fernandez for his 30 years of service and dedication to affordable home development and community-building.
This event serves as CEDC’s NeighborWorks® Week (NNW) event. During NeighborWorks® Week (June 4-11, 2011), local NeighborWorks® organizations across the U.S. mobilize tens of thousands of volunteers, businesspeople, neighbors, friends, and local and national elected and civic leaders in a week of neighborhood change and awareness. The extensive resource fair showcased as part of CEDC’s celebration features access to education, homeownership, and community resources and reflects this year NWW’s theme of “Working Together for Strong Communities.”
Since 1998, CEDC has been a proud member of the NeighborWorks® network (www.nw.org) through its affiliation with NeighborWorks® America, a national intermediary that provides funding and technical assistance to Community Development Corporations (CDCs) across the country. National NeighborWorks® Week — now in its 28th year — is a celebration of the accomplishments of the NeighborWorks® network.
This is the 10th consecutive year that CEDC has assisted a neighborhood in coordinating a revitalization or community project as part of NWW. Past NWW revitalization projects have taken place in Oxnard, Ojai, Santa Paula, El Rio, Piru, Fillmore and Ventura and have included renovating a maternity home, rehabilitating homes with paint and landscaping, and planting a community garden.
An important goal of “Pathways to Peace and Prosperity” is to offer opportunities for individuals and families to gain valuable information that can help them work toward economic and educational advancement and self-sufficiency. With a ‘passport’ in hand, families will be able to travel through three resource paths and enter into a raffle drawing upon completion of each pathway. The “Home Pathway” will teach families about the path to affordable rental apartment homes as well as buying and retaining a single-family home or townhome, including foreclosure prevention resources. Families will be connected to CEDC’s NWA HomeOwnership Center for financial educational workshops, as well as to banks and other agencies. The “Education Pathway” will walk families through the planning steps needed for academic success ? from kindergarten to higher education. Families will be able to visually track their education attainment goals as they go through the pathway and interact with education advocates and professionals who will offer resources and information. In the “Community Pathway,” community members will interact with resident leaders who are working on critical issues in our region such as violence prevention, affordable homes for agricultural workers and community leadership development, and professionals who will offer resources and information. The goal of this activity is to present information to families in a dynamic and interactive way that emphasizes connectedness among organizations and agencies that are working to create stronger and safer communities in our region.
“CEDC is proud to be a part of National NeighborWorks® Week,” Silvia Rodriguez, director of CEDC’s Community Building and Neighborhood Revitalization Division, stated in the media release. “Our ‘Pathways to Peace and Prosperity’ festival on June 4th will help families access local resources that promote homeownership, educational attainment, and community services. We will also celebrate 30 years of CEDC’s impact across Ventura County. CEDC truly embodies the NWW theme ‘working together for strong communities’ and we are excited to offer this day to individuals, families and neighborhoods that we serve.”
CEDC is pleased to welcome Wells Fargo and Citi Community Development as partners for our 30th anniversary, the organization reported.
Call Rena Sepulveda at 805.659.3791, ext. 147 or send an email to rsepulveda@cabrilloedc.org for more information.