Mutual Assistance Network

Mutual Assistance Network of Del Paso Heights: Mission

The Mutual Assistance Network of Del Paso Heights is a community development corporation that utilizes the skill as talents of the residents of the Del Paso Heights neighborhood to achieve the following:

To expand commercial, financial, and employment opportunities for neighborhood residents
To improve physical, public safety and social conditions in the neighborhood.
To stimulate and build self-help and mutual assistance programs that enable residents to work together to achieve good health and successful lives.
To promote, conduct, and operate any programs, businesses, or other activities necessary to achieve these purposes.

Agency Overview

In the twelve years since its incorporation, MAN’s programs, activities and budget have expanded dramatically.  From humble beginnings, MAN has grown into one of the largest private employers in the Del Paso Heights neighborhood with an annual operating budget of approximately $2.5 million.  Furthermore, over 65% of its employees and Board members are Del Paso Heights residents.  The agency now occupies a large office space in the heart of the neighborhood, owns the Firehouse Family Resource Center building, and operates programs from six different locations.

Based on our innovative service provision and vision for the community, MAN was recognized in 2004 by the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s (AECF) Families Count: The National Honors Program, which celebrates extraordinary organizations that improve the odds for America’s most vulnerable children by giving them strong, capable and economically successful families.  In 2004, MAN also received the Daily Point of Light Award from the Point of Light Foundation for excellence in working with families and volunteers, and in 2005 the United Way honored MAN with the Gloria Rose Memorial Award. At the same time, MAN is consistently awarded contracts from the Sacramento Department of Health and Human Services for home visitation programs, Birth & Beyond,Black Infant Health, School Readiness, and more recently became the pilot for Sacramento County’s Child Welfare Redesign Project Differential Response.

Community Goals

Mutual Assistance Network of Del Paso Heights in looking toward the future of Del Paso Heights has combined our mission and the resident’s interests to design long-term goals for the community.  MAN is forwarding the community’s vision and changing the methods of practice between family, youth and economic services through integrated programs. The resident’s vision is for Del Paso Heights to become a community with the economic power to influence its own environment, in which the youth of Del Paso Heights have the opportunity to become leaders and productive adults, an environment exists in which parents can prepare their children for successful adulthood, and an implied expectation exists that requires residents to be active community members. 

Agency Model

Capitalizing on the successes of MAN’s Youth, Family and Economic Departments and with the assistance of the Del Paso Heights community, MAN has created a pathway to new best practices that promotes systems change.  This innovative approach to service integration creates a support system for residents including their families, the youth and their community.  MAN’s model of service provision provides participants with the opportunity to enter services at any point and connect to current programs that promotes residents to advocate for social change within the community.  MAN believes that integrating the principles of each department into the current programs will provide residents with the skills needed for future success and community change.

To ensure the community’s ownership in MAN programming, the Firehouse Community Center operates as a warm and welcoming environment for the residents of Del Paso Heights that promotes the needs of the community and the mission of MAN. It stands a catalyst for integrating the three main service areas Youth, Economic Development, and Family, as a unified approach to community development.  In order to fulfill the vision of the agency, the Firehouse provides the link between programming and supportive services that allows for community growth.  It is an epicenter for the community education, development and relationship building.