Community

The Riversider | December 2021

WORDS: SOFIA MILLA PHOTOS: ZACH CORDNER

Path of Life Community Shelter

It’s no doubt that we’re in a housing crisis, and many of our neighbors in the Riverside community are without homes. But one organization is providing emergency aid, as well as hope. Path Of Life is a homeless outreach organization providing emergency shelter and programs to help our homeless neighbors get back on their feet and work toward self-reliance. Path Of Life started in Riverside as a church of the same name. In 1998, they decided to venture into homeless services through pastor Raul Diaz. Raul offered to work with the city of Riverside to provide homeless services during cold weather. The first cold weather shelter was located in the armory in Fairmont park, allowing those in need to arrive at dinner time, eat a warm meal, and stay in an overnight shelter. It eventually became much more in 2005 when Path Of Life began to expand their services into what they are today. Today, there are two shelters in Riverside—the Community Shelter and the Family Shelter. The Family Shelter only provides shelter to families, including minors and their parents, as well as significant relatives. In order to stay in the Family Shelter, someone has to have children connected to him or her. It currently provides 50 beds to families. In contrast, the Community Shelter is eighteen-plus, and separated into men and women dorms with a common room in between. The community shelter currently houses up to 54 men and 36 women. “A lot of time people think shelters are scary awful places, and that’s a fair assessment. However, it’s also fair to say there are groups who care to make it clean and provide as much new food and resources to guests as possible,” said Casey Jackson, interim CEO for Path of Life. The community shelter has recently been remodeled with help from a grant from the state of California. Another generous group recently brought new life to the Community Shelter common room with a fresh paint job. “We had to increase our services through the pandemic,” explained Casey. “While everyone else was slowing down, we were speeding up.” With more people in need of their services, they quickly changed from an overnight shelter to a 24-hour shelter, and raced to create more space for beds. The Community Shelter has now expanded to 135 beds. Path Of Life provides far more than shelter, as they’re also providing education, wrap-around services, and compassion. One of Path Of Life’s largest efforts is their housing placement program. Finding an apartment or house for guests to rent and providing them with support through the process. They also offer employment pipeline services, and mental health assistance. Path Of Life offers many ways for Riverside residents to get involved in making the city a better place, and making a difference in people’s lives. Their Guest Chef program allows volunteers to visit the shelter and serve guests with a warm meal. The community is also able to volunteer to sort out donated goods. They welcome all volunteers with open arms. “We look forward to seeing more community members become a part of what we are doing,” said Casey.

Path of Life Family Shelter

The most effective way to help Path Of Life is to donate funds. The organization is currently holding their year-end giving campaign—their biggest fundraising event of the year. The Yearend giving is a yearly fundraising campaign to fill the monetary gaps. “There are a lot of gaps that we do fill for our participants, but not our staff. So the money we receive goes to fill gaps that we have throughout the year,” explained Casey. They’re shooting for $600,000, which is only a fraction of the total yearly budget, and are asking the community to donate whatever they can. Every dollar makes a difference—as little as ten dollars serves three meals. Path Of Life remains dedicated to their mission of getting everyone off the streets of Riverside and back into permanent housing.

Path Of Life Family Shelter 2530 3rd Street (951) 462-9822 thepathoflife.com

Achievement Coach Lilliana Gonzalez is the backbone to Path of Life's Family Shelter.

Path Of Life Community Shelter 2840 Hulen Place (951) 683-4101 thepathoflife.com

WORDS: AARON SCHMIDT

The founding members of the Riverside Chapter of the Kiwanis Club in 1921.

Founded in 1915 in Detroit, Michigan, Kiwanis International is a worldwide service club. With its headquarters located in Indianapolis, Indiana, Kiwanis and its family of clubs have more than 600,000 members around the globe. Each year, they raise more than $100 million, and have contributed more than 18.5 million volunteer hours to strengthen communities and serve children. The Riverside chapter of the Kiwanis Club is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year as it was originally founded in 1921. Throughout that time, the Kiwanians have passionately served the Riverside community in a myriad of ways—all benefiting underprivileged youth. The Riverside chapter became the 387th Kiwanis Club in the United States, and the eighth club in what was then known as the Kiwanis District of California. The current president of the Kiwanis Riverside chapter, Kevin Tetley, has deep family ties to the organization that spans multiple generations. “My great great grandfather (my father’s great grandfather) Frank Tetley was a charter member of the club. I’m not sure if he was a founding member, but he was definitely a charter member. That meant he was one of the original club members during the first year it was chartered here in 1921. Back then, the chapter was “commerce only” because it just used to be a networking group—that’s how it originally started. “Kiwanis” is a Native American term for “we trade,” explained Tetley. “Generationally, my father was a past president of Kiwanis and my grandfather was a member of Kiwanis—both in the San Bernardino Chapter. I joined because I knew my dad was a part of Kiwanis. And also being in the financial planning industry, I know that it’s good to have a solid networking group. So I decided that a wanted a group for networking, and a group for giving—now I have multiple for both,” said Tetley with a smile. “I’m also on the board for The Unforgettables, which is an organization that helps provide burials for low-income families who lose their children. It’s an amazing cause, too, and it’s very focused.” Kiwanis supports many local community programs, as they have awarded annual scholarships to college-bound high school seniors, and they also sponsor youth Kiwanis clubs at UCR and local high schools to help students learn about leadership, fellowship, and philanthropy. One of the main purposes of the Kiwanis Club of Riverside is to provide stability for the youth. “We provide scholarships for kids coming out of Riverside high schools and the surrounding area, but it’s mainly the idea of helping underprivileged kids within this community,” said Tetley. Since 1992, Kiwanis Club of Riverside has generously supported families at Longfellow Elementary School on Riverside’s eastside with holiday food drives, RCC “Starting Blocks” no-cost swim lessons, tutoring, dental screenings, new playground sports equipment and shoes, a vegetable garden, musical instruments, school uniforms, a large painted map of the United States on the playground, and the Kiwanis even started an innovative pre-school program funded by the State Of California that’s become a district-wide success. “I think from the beginning—from what the Kiwanians started in Riverside with their history—it wasn’t just for this school, it’s all about providing for all kids in need. They looked at ‘Where’s the need, and what can we do?’ This is why I believe they chose Longfellow Elementary all those years ago. There was a need, as we are the highest poverty school in Riverside. The Family Homeless Shelter feeds into our school. There’s a certain type of gratitude that our families exude and that’s a humbleness of being appreciative,” said Geri Castro, principal of Longfellow Elementary. “Everyone cares about their child’s wellbeing, and I feel that’s something that resonates within our community, and I think the Kiwanians have been a huge part of that.” The The Kiwanis Club of Riverside has diligently served Longfellow Elementary for decades, and it’s all about helping students and the community. They’ve also partnered with RCC and contributed to the Starting Blocks swim program throughout the district and the city. They’ve literally saved lives by teaching kids to swim and having them learn about drowning prevention. “At Christmas time, Kiwanians provide food, toys, and presents. They’ve provided new playground equipment and new library books—everything about the wellbeing of the children, they’ve provided. Anything that kids need to feel successful in school— like new school backpacks and water bottles. Even though we have things that are provided for us, it’s really something special to have the Kiwanians just

KCOR President Harvey Lynn, 1940. KCOR, 1965

ZACH CORDNER

Kiwanis president Kevin Tetley, Longfellow Elementary principal Geri Castro, and Kiwanis member Mike Mihelich.

Past Presidents of KCOR, 2020. Poly Bears 1st Place Kiwanis Tournament, 2018.

being good stewards in showing kids that this is how you pay it forward. Our kids, in turn, really model and exemplify that. They’re very appreciative and grateful,” said Geri. “Everything that you can think of that would be a typical experience for a middle-income student, you would see the Kiwanians strive to provide that experience for all of our kids.” The future of Kiwanis Club of Riverside looks bright as Tetley wants to change with the times and bring the younger generation into the Kiwanis fold, as the club adapts to today’s modern technology, far removed from the days of old. “I want to start integrating younger generations into the club, and get them fired up to go out and serve the community. My goal is to continue to help the youth of Riverside and come up with some substantial fundraising ideas for the Club where we can bring in outsiders and maximize our donations. Our 100th anniversary party was hugely successful. We plan on adding different events every year,” explained Tetley. “We’re looking for younger generation members because I’m probably the youngest member, so I want to bring in more people my age or closer to my age. I also want to create a sturdy pathway from the service leadership clubs like Circle K and Key Club with more integration and pathway into the adult club. When they’re done with Circle K, they immediately transition into Kiwanis Club members because they do a great job. I mean, I’m working with some of these kids and they’re better at fundraising than we are. They have a lot of passion.”