1. Monument sign of James O
Monument sign of James O. Jessie Desert Highland Unity Center where the 2013 Community Development Week Open House and Tour occurred with the newly-elected Congressman Raul Ruiz (CA-36).

2. The CD Week theme this is year was ‘Changing Communities, Changing Lives’. Palm Springs’ showcased the James O. Jessie Desert Highland Unity Center as exemplifying this year’s theme.

3. In 2007, NCDA recognized the City of Palm Springs for its exemplary and innovated use of CDBG funds to address the needs of low and moderate income families by awarding the Audrey Nelson Community Development Achievement Award for the Center’s Expansion, and the Center was highlighted in last year’s Annual Conference on the Palm Springs’ Local Project Tour.

4. Computer Room and Library of the Center.

5. Classroom of the Center.

6. City Councilmember Paul Lewin presents City Proclamation designating the week of April 1st as National Community Development Week to the Center Manager Jarvis Crawford.

7. City Councilmember Paul Lewin and Center Manger Jarvis Crawford provided the Member of Congress Dr. Raul Ruiz, M.D. with a framed print of the Desert Highland wall mural that adorns the Center’s exterior front wall, as a memento of his visit and to hang in the Congressman’s Capital Hill Office.

8. ‘Changing Communities, Changing Lives’
“These types of programs are ones that often times get undervalued, and it is up to us to demonstrate the impact that it can have in our communities and in our children’s lives,”
Rep. Ruiz quote to the local newspaper during Community Development Week event at the James O. Jessie Desert Highland Unity Center.
Local newspaper article quote from Rep. Ruiz during the CD Week event at the Center.

9. Congressman Ruiz and Dale Cook, City of Palm Springs Community Development Administrator