One day in 2007, Puente Executive Director Kerry Lobel invited Puente staff and volunteers to her home for a communal brainstorming session. Puente had just merged with North Street Community Services under Lobel’s leadership. After she seated everyone in her living room, Lobel asked people what Puente’s future ought to look like. What services should it provide? What would it stand for? How would it bring people together? By the time they were done, the group had filled several walls with notes. They had the seeds for Puente’s next phase. Those seeds have blossomed into an organization that serves more than 1,500 South Coast residents each year. Today, everyone knows that Puente is the only place to go for everything from ESL and medical insurance, to taxes and substance abuse prevention. Puente touches the lives of families who need rental assistance, helps women with maternal depression, and partners with the YMCA to hold a summer camp for kids who would never be able to afford it. “We like to say we’re a one-stop shop,” says Lobel. This year, as Puente celebrates its 15th anniversary, Lobel is taking the opportunity to look ahead to the next 15 years. Feeding the community The South Coast’s farming future may belong to small artisanal farms as global competition drives larger farms and nurseries out … Continue reading Puente: the next 15 years