Recently, 23ABC shared Delano PD’s stats showing a drop in crime—and after talking with residents, it’s clear they feel the difference. However, there’s a local organization that’s also helping reshape Delano into a safer community.
“My life is looking great now, I’m a full time student at Cal State Bakersfield, I have three associates degrees, sociology, psychology, and liberal arts and I’m a business owner,” said client of Garden Pathways Vincent Mike Gonzalez.
Meet Vincent Mike Gonzalez, you may remember him from a previous story we did showcasing a fentanyl prevention event.
But Gonzalez wasn’t always like this. Spending a portion of his life incarcerated before finding Garden Pathways.
“Garden Pathways helped me get certificates such as West Tech, forklift driving, different stuff like that,” said Gonzalez. “They offer tattoo removal, and court mandated things like anger management.”
Gonzalez is just one of 72 clients to have been served and positively impacted by Garden Pathways, a local non profit that focuses on community outreach.
They’ve been in the city since 2024, chief operating officer Juan Avila says the work they do relies on communication.
“We build these relationships, we build trust, and then we inform them of the different resources that are available to them to they can have a good quality of life and are able to accomplish goals like higher education or employment,” said Avila.
Avila says out of the clients served, 23 have consistently participated in cognitive-behavioral therapy-based groups, and 10 have enrolled in Westside Energy Services and Training Center, a three week career and job training program at no-cost.
Garden Pathways says their goal is long-term change — focusing on prevention before violence happens. For more information on the resources they provide, click here.
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