Executive Summary

Garden Pathways ("GP") cultivates it's relationship with its community through its time tested approach of "Building Community from the Inside Out." GP's community includes the individuals and neighborhoods served, staff, partners, and funders. To build a culture of inclusion and diversity, GP offers extensive training on cultural sensitivity that improves community engagement and addresses the needs of its residents. In this work, cultural competence is essential for services to be effective because cultural forces can influence the choices we make. GP staff is diverse in having lived experiences similar to the community it serves to individuals with formal training and education to both. Many staff are bilingual and multicultural, and have vast experience in engaging the hardest-to-reach populations.

GP's programs address the root causes of societal problems facing families in Kern County, including poor education, poverty, domestic and child abuse, foster care, family instability, teen pregnancy, violence, crime, and other chronic stress and trauma. Internal barriers such as hopelessness entrap persons in risky behaviors and prevent them from making healthy choices. Mentoring serves as an effective means to overcoming these obstacles. GP's research-based mentoring, intensive case management, and transformative education strategies create a bridge for participants to successfully integrate into the community and their families, rather than return to unhealthy lifestyles and/or incarceration. Through a strong network of partner agencies, GP is able to advocate for, coordinate, and follow up with services to meet the needs of the people it serves.

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