New regional effort “United San Joaquin” holds founding convention with over 700 people

The energy inside the Resnick Student Union at Fresno State was full of Hope on Sunday afternoon.  Over 700 people attended the “founding convention” for a new Regional effort called United San Joaquin.

The goal of this initiative is to talk to people from the valley and take on issues like immigration reform, public transportation, and housing.

United San Joaquin has 18 founders, from law enforcement to city leaders to faith groups. Thousands of conversations with Valley residents helped set the foundation for action items.

Charles Waldon, a Fresno State Accounting student, says public transportation is something he hopes improves moving forward.

“Everything’s getting really, really expensive right now,” Waldon said. “My wallet is hurting.”

Waldon would use public transportation and eventually transitioned to using his grandma’s car, spending thousands on repairs. 

“I didn’t have a bus stop within like a mile and a half of my house,” Waldon said. “So having more bus stops, more reliable transportation is definitely going to be good.”

Others in attendance, like Mary Jane Galviso from Orosi, say that to make any change, there needs to be more effort to include all communities.

“I think it’s important for all organizations to recognize the need to reach out to form working relationships with rural communities,” Galviso said. “Our call to action is to be involved to know the issues and to truly include rural communities in any organizing effort here.”

United San Joaquin is being launched as an affiliate of the Undistrial Areas Foundation (IAF). It now becomes one of more than 60 IAF affiliates in the United States and internationally.

The United San Joaquin will host their next event, a New Leader Training at Wesley United Methodist Church at 6 pm on May 14.