Official ribbon cutting held for Butterfly Gardens

Photo by City of Clovis

Monday, December 5th, Clovis Mayor Jose Flores and City Councilmembers Lynne Ashbeck and Vong Mouanoutoua along with Fresno County Supervisor Nathan Magsig joined representatives from the County of Fresno for the official ribbon cutting for Butterfly Gardens, a 75 unit supportive housing development located at the corner of Willow and Holland Avenues in the City of Clovis.

The development is the first permanent supportive housing development in the City of Clovis.

It was developed by UPholdings and Self-Help Enterprises with the goal of assisting those with disabilities who are at-risk of becoming homeless.

The facility will also have a 24-hour staff onsite to provide services to residents. The services range from job training to mental health services.

Mayor Pro-Tem Lynne Ashbeck on the opening of the Butterfly Gardens: “The opening this morning is the result of a long history on that project…This particular housing project is the first in our city and it brought together all kinds of county partners. It provides housing for folks in our community who need it the most. It’s not just a roof over their head, but it’s social services to help them and help them get back on their feet. I think for our community it’s such a great step to provide housing to folks in all kinds of circumstances.”

County of Fresno Supervisor Nathan Magsig stated, “There are many people in our community that need housing that has wraparound housing and Butterfly Gardens will provide those wraparound services…Butterfly Gardens was a partnership between the County of Fresno, the City of Clovis, our Behavioral Health Department, Public Health, the Housing Authority, so there were many different partners upholding this. We couldn’t have built a facility like that without just recognizing that we need to come together.”

Magsig again emphasized the wraparound services at the site for those who will receive housing, will also be receiving support to “get back up on their feet.”

This project is in an area zoned for high-density housing, as it was determined by the city’s recent state approved Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA).

“Butterfly Gardens represents a strong effort by many to provide hope for the most vulnerable in our community. It is exciting to see a developer taking advantage of our recently changed zoning laws and the resulting opportunity. We welcome the future residents of this critical community to Clovis and look forward to wrapping arms around them so they can reach their full potential and enjoy everything Clovis has to offer.” said Mayor Flores.

According to the City of Clovis, there has been an increase of unhoused individuals in the last few years. This project is expected to help provide housing and services to those individuals in a safe environment.

The City of Clovis assisted in the project by providing funds to help reduce development impact fees and provided assistance by city staff to provide support on funding applications and processing permits.
Mayor Flores said, “The City of Clovis was happy to celebrate the opening of Butterfly Gardens today and more importantly extends a warm welcome to our new residents. We thank all of the partners, especially Upholdings, who came together on this project, and look forward to the positive impact it will have on our community.”