Our Story:

Madison Park Neighborhood Association (MPNA), a city-formed association, has served community members in Southeast Santa Ana, California since 1987. In 2011 MPNA founded GREEN (Getting Residents Engaged in Empowering Neighborhoods.) GREEN-MPNA and its programming emerged from needs identified by Madison Park parents and youth, including (1) supporting youth and families to pursue educational and leadership opportunities and (2) improving health equity outcomes through wellness programs and environmental justice policy work. GREEN-MPNA is fiscally sponsored by OneOC.

Eloy Rodriguez, Ph.D.

The GREEN-MPNA story starts more than 35 years ago. Two young Latinos came together while attending the University of California, Irvine, Dr. Frank Zaldivar and Mr. Jose Rea were inspired by their former mentor, Dr. Eloy Rodriguez, who created opportunities for Latinx undergraduate and graduate students as well as children from Santa Ana. Following Dr. Rodriguez’s legacy, his two former students created programs for UC Irvine science and medical students to immerse themselves in community-based learning. They found strong partners in MPNA and James Madison Elementary.

Our Mission

Through civic engagement, GREEN-MPNA promotes youth educational opportunities, health equity, safe & clean environments, and community empowerment.

The birth of GREEN-MPNA

When the California Endowment selected Santa Ana for their Building Healthy Communities Initiative in 2009, Dr. Zaldivar, Mr. Rea – Madison Park neighborhood resident – and Mr. Victor Becerra, another UCI colleague, created momentum by successfully obtaining grants to develop STEM programs at James Madison Elementary. They also connected university students as mentors. In 2011, MPNA launched the Getting Residents Engaged in Empowering Neighborhoods (GREEN) Initiative.