Mayor of FresnoHaving dedicated nearly her entire professional career to improving the
City of Fresno, it was no surprise that Mayor Ashley Swearengin was glad to join First Lady Maria Shriver in Fresno to support WE Connect.
"An event like this helps draw attention to resources that are already available and in this day and age we cannot afford to let one dollar, one resource go to waste," said Swearengin.
Swearengin may have only been elected mayor in 2008, but her passion for helping her community has been prevalent most of her life.
She has served as the Director of
Community and Economic Development at Fresno State University, where she worked to create jobs and educational opportunities for Fresno's working families.
And in 2002, she co-founded and became CEO of the
Fresno Regional Jobs Initiative (RJI), a public-private partnership that is aimed at creating new jobs for Fresno. To date, over 23,000 non-farm, non-government jobs have been created.
After attending the WE Connect event in Fresno, she believes people will be able to see positive results in the way of tax returns and resources in her city.
"Today's event was remarkable. In real time, we're seeing people get returns. I overheard a single working mother say they are getting over $4000. That's incredible," said Swearengin.
With a 15.7% unemployment rate, Fresno arguably has more needs than any other region in California, so a program like WE Connect helps bring attention to what programs and resources are already available to low income families, according to Swearengin.
"We were delighted to see the First Lady come back. We were already working with our local community based organizations to help promote the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) expansion anyway, so it was good timing all the way around," Swearengin said.
Swearengin is confident that the events in Fresno will continue to motivate people to connect others that are in need.
"The word will spread from here. I saw the First Lady walking around telling people to tell five others about WE Connect," she said.
"That is exactly the kind of viral marketing that really helps people connect and find the resources that they need."
Swearengin is proud to have WE Connect play a part in helping people in her city get back on their feet.
"I think it gives people a sense of hope and we need it now more than every before," Swearengin said.
"It's going to provide that extra bit of money to help somebody get through a really tough time, or get them on the road to training, or some other access to support that's going to help them make it."
