About us (FMCI)

Franklin-McKinley Children’s Initiative (FMCI) is a community partnership that supports children from cradle to career through: 1) Hub Schools, 2) Safe and Strong Neighborhoods, and 3) Economic Development.

Mission

Vision

Every Franklin-McKinley Children’s Initiative (FMCI) child graduates High School ready for College and Career.

History

In 2010, the 16-block Santee neighborhood was one of the lowest socioeconomic areas in the City of San Jose, with a large proportion of recent immigrants, non-English speaking families, high level of gang activity (identified by the San Jose Police Department as one of the City’s gang “hot spots”), family violence, and poor school performance in terms of academics, truancy, and behavior. Santee Elementary School had the second lowest API in the district, with a 2010 Base of 734. The school was moving into its fifth year of Federal Program Improvement. Based on state STAR testing reports, 80% of the students were socio-economically disadvantaged and 85% were classified as English learners. Although the City of San Jose had invested significant resources over the years through suppression and intervention programs such as Weed and Seed, Project Crackdown, and redevelopment funding through the Strong Neighborhoods Initiative, improvements were not quick enough or sustainable.


A number of local service agencies were working diligently to help the community, but there was little or no coordination among the services. The burden of assisting families was often on the shoulders of the teachers and principal, taking them away from their primary purpose of providing quality education and positive school culture.

In response to this crisis, Catholic Charities of Santa Clara County and the Franklin McKinley School District worked together to secure funding from the Packard Foundation, the City of San Jose, the County Office of Education, and FIRST 5 of Santa Clara County to launch the Franklin-McKinley Children’s Initiative (FMCI). Today, FMCI convenes and partners with over 25 private and public organizations and provides direct services to invest in the Santee neighborhood through three key areas — Hub Schools, Safe and Strong Neighborhoods, and Economic Development.

We are social activists, government officials, and business owners. We are community members, teachers, and philanthropists. We are nuns, principals, and nonprofit employees. Together, we are the Franklin McKinley Children’s Initiative (FMCI).

Our vision is to pool our collective resources and focus our passions on making the Santee neighborhood a place where children and families can truly thrive.

Contact us

1399 Santee Drive, BLDG 2

San Jose, CA 95122

Office: (408) 640-9654

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Staff

  • Deyanira Hurtado

    Deyanira Hurtado

    FMCI Director

  • Sona Grover

    Sona Grover

    Program Manager

  • Maria Garcia-Serrano

    Maria Garcia-Serrano

    Program Manager

  • Noemi Gomez

    Noemi Gomez

    Program Manager

  • Marisela Cuevas

    Marisela Cuevas

    Program Coordinator

  • Hever Yanez

    Hever Yanez

    Community Worker

  • Luz Aguillar

    Luz Aguillar

    Case Manager I

  • Vivian Doan

    Vivian Doan

    Early Learning Specialist

  • Melanie Mireles

    Melanie Mireles

    Early Learning Specialist

  • Lucia Dixon

    Lucia Dixon

    Early Learning Specialist

  • Mario Galvan

    Mario Galvan

    Early Learning Specialist

  • Benito Torres

    Benito Torres

    Community Worker

  • Carmen Zacarias

    Carmen Zacarias

    Community Worker

  • Christina Hernandez

    Christina Hernandez

    Community Worker

  • Brenda Flores

    Brenda Flores

    CORAL Site Manager at Santee Elementary Schools

  • Carmina Valdivia

    Carmina Valdivia

    Senior Director, Children, Youth, and Family Development

  • Sharon Marfil

    Volunteer Coordinator

Community Leadership in Action

  • Amelida Castillo

    Amelida Castillo

  • Suliquei Baustista

    Suliquei Bautista

  • Guillermina Estrada

    Guillermina Estrada

  • Stephanie Ceja Gonzalez

    Stephanie Ceja Gonzalez

  • McLaughlin Area Tenant Associaton

    McLaughlin Area Tenant Associaton

Partners

FMCI Staff

FMCI is firmly committed to a partnership approach to its work and believes connecting the Santee neighborhood to additional resources is a fundamental aspect of its responsibility to the community.

The following public agencies and community-based organizations have made ongoing contributions to the health and well-being of Santee residents by providing programming and other resources:

  • Seven Trees Neighborhood

Steering Committee

  • Lynne H. Brown, Ph.D.

    Lynne H. Brown, Ph.D.

  • Juan Cruz

    Juan Cruz

  • Chris Funk

    Chris Funk

  •  Dr. Many Ann Dewan

    Dr. Many Ann Dewan

  •  HaNhi L. Tran

    HaNhi L. Tran

  • Eddie Truong

    Eddie Truong

  • Leslie Bacho

    Leslie Bacho

  • Thanh Tran

    Thanh Tran

  • Angel Rios

    Angel Rios

Funders

The work of FMCI would not be possible without the support of our funders, who believe in our vision for a stronger Santee neighborhood.

  • Coughran Family Foundation

  • Franklin-McKinley School District

  • Bella Vista Foundation

  • Carol Jossi

  • City of San Jose

  • FIRST 5, Santa Clara County

  • Heising Siemens Foundation

  • Leo M. Shortino Family Foundation

  • David and Lucile Packard Foundation

  • Social Services Department of Santa Clara County

  • Skoll Foundation

  • Sunlight Giving

Thank you to our sponsors for your generous support. We value your partnership and commitment to the residents of Santee.

Founding Members

  • Madison Nguyen

    Madison Nguyen

  • Nicole Kade

    Nicole Kade

  • Jaime Lopez

    Jaime Lopez

  • Dr. John Porter, Jr.

    Dr. John Porter, Jr.

  • Buu Thai

    Buu Thai

  • Susan Meyers

    Susan Meyers

  • Greg Kepferle

    Greg Kepferle

  • Jolene Smith

    Jolene Smith

Where We Work

Franklin-McKinley School District Sites

 
 
 
 
 

FMCI Community Center

1399 Santee Dr, San Jose, CA 95122

Contact: Maria Serrano

Email: mgarcia-serrano@catholiccharitiesscc.org

Phone: (669)244-2815

Educare FRC

1399 Santee Dr, San Jose, CA 95122

Contact: Maria Serrano

Email: mgarcia-serrano@catholiccharitiesscc.org

Phone: (669)244-2815

Seven Trees FRC

3975 Mira Loma Way, San Jose, CA 95111

Contact: Marisol Barahona

Email: mbarahona@catholiccharitiesscc.org

Phone: (408)516-6028

Jason Dahl FRC- Educare

3200 Water St., Bldg P-2, San Jose,CA 95111

Contact: Jennifer Interiano

Email: jinteriano@catholiccharitiesscc.org

Phone: (408) 396-8301

George Shirakawa Sr. FRC

645 Wool Creek Dr, P1 & P2 San Jose, CA 95112

Contact: Sona Grover

Email: sgrover@catholiccharitiesscc.org

Phone: (425) 949-2521