Granville Homes, in partnership with Mayor Jerry Dyer and his wife Diane Dyer, Fresno councilmembers Mike Karbassi and Miguel Arias, and The Fresno Metro Black Chamber of Commerce, has kicked off a fundraising campaign to benefit Live Again Fresno.

The nonprofit’s mission is to improve educational attainment and health outcomes for kids living in Parkway Drive motels, an area known for drugs and prostitution, while advocating to shorten motel tenancy.

The Granville Relief Project will match all funds raised in March for Live Again Fresno up to $15,000, said Granville Homes president and CEO Darius Assemi. (Assemi is also the publisher of GV Wire.)

“2020 was probably the most challenging year our community, and our country, has ever faced. From financial and health issues to food insecurity, countless Valley nonprofits suddenly had to figure out how to address greater need with fewer resources,” said Assemi. “The Granville Relief program is our way of thanking these organizations in two ways: By increasing awareness of the work these often-unnoticed nonprofits are doing, and by raising desperately needed funds so these organizations can continue to serve our community.

“I am so proud of our Valley for always stepping up in the hardest of times, and it is an honor and a privilege to help support the nonprofits that support our neighbors.”

Center Brings Services to Neighborhood

Live Again Fresno opened a Community Resource Center in the Addams neighborhood in July 2019 and has enrolled more than 160 students in the afterschool program. Students can get a healthy meal, personal mentoring, and educational tutoring at the center.

“The greatest resource we can give these children is access to a safe space with consistent faces and an opportunity to imagine themselves as something other than what currently exists in their neighborhood,” Live Again Fresno director Richard Burrell said.

Tara Lynn Gray, president/CEO of the Fresno Metro Black Chamber of Commerce and Chamber Foundation, said that the pandemic has heightened financial pressures on families and businesses, increasing the need for services provided by organizations such as Live Again Fresno.

“The Fresno Metro Black Chamber of Commerce and Chamber Foundation is proud to be a part of the Granville Relief Project and Live Again Fresno; to be a resource and ensure equitable access to those we serve and beyond,” Gray said. “We do this not only because it is the right thing to do but in memory of Richard ‘Dick’ Keyes, one of our founding board members who supported this community.”

Donations for this campaign are accepted through the Granville Relief Project for Live Again Fresno GoFundMe account page.