Meet Ms. Lacandis Judge

From Being Raised by Community to Building Community

My name is LaCandis Judge, and when I think about my journey in community work, I realize that I have been preparing for this work my entire life.

For the past two years, my time with Another Level Training Academy (ALTA) has given me the opportunity to take everything I have experienced, learned, and carried from my community and turn it into purpose. ALTA did not just give me a job. It gave me an opportunity to better understand what community work truly means, to broaden my education, sharpen my gifts, and recognize that the things I thought were simply part of who I was were actually skills that could create impact.

One of the most influential people in that journey has been Ms. Nia Hodge. She has continuously planted positive affirmations in me and reminded me that what I need is already within me—my lived experiences, my knowledge, my ability to connect with people, my understanding of community, and my desire to see people win. She has challenged me to sharpen those gifts instead of constantly looking outside of myself for validation or believing I need a title or degree before I can make a difference.

That affirmation changed how I saw myself.

I began to understand that I am a connector. I am a bridge.

A lot of my work has happened behind the scenes. I have had the privilege of helping connect residents, leaders, organizations, programs, and opportunities. I have worked alongside and helped support resident leaders like Ms. Essie Patrick, whose own journey helped birth Roots and Release, creating space for people to work through grief, healing, codependency, and healthy relationships. I have supported Ms. Janay Maynard and the work surrounding our Youth Community and Connections (YCC) circles, helping create spaces where young people can be themselves, build relationships, talk about their futures, and experience community in a positive way.

Our youth field days have become another extension of that work. Seeing young people simply get outside, play, laugh, compete, and enjoy one another reminds me of something I grew up with—something I believe our communities desperately need to reclaim.

I am part of what I believe is one of the last generations to experience that kind of neighborhood familyship.

Growing up, your neighbor was your auntie even though there was no blood relation. The person you went to elementary school with, then middle school and high school with, became your cousin because you grew up together they really become your brother or sister, and eventually your children would call them Auntie or Uncle. There was a sense of belonging that wasn’t dependent on a last name.

Community was family.

When our parents were working or had other responsibilities, the community helped raise us. When our parents told us we could go outside and play, everybody knew what time it was when those streetlights came on. We had community centers. We had programs. We had people who poured into us.

I learned to sew at Hinton Center.
I learned to paint at Hinton Center.
I learned to swim at Frank H Center.

Those experiences may have seemed ordinary at the time, but they were investments in me. Someone created those spaces, someone funded them, someone showed up, and someone believed that children in our community deserved opportunities.

Now I understand that I am standing on the results of somebody else’s investment.

And that is why I want to give back.

I may not always be able to give back financially, and I recognize that funding is important. Funding funds things. It creates programs, pays people, provides resources, and reaches into places where sometimes people cannot. We absolutely need investment in our communities.

But I have also learned that giving back is not always about money.

Sometimes the greatest thing you can give someone is what somebody once gave you: an opportunity, a connection, encouragement, information, a safe space, or simply somebody who believes in you.

That is what I want to give.

Through ALTA, I have had the opportunity to work throughout the 93706, but my vision has grown beyond one neighborhood. Through community partnerships, outreach, Wednesday on the West, youth programming, resident engagement, voter education, cultural programming, and collaborations with organizations and leaders throughout Fresno, I have been able to see how interconnected our communities truly are.

My involvement with the Southwest Power Round Table and other collaborative efforts has also shown me that the work cannot happen in isolation. We need residents, nonprofits, faith communities, schools, businesses, youth, leaders, and organizations sitting at the same table and asking one important question:

What can we build together?

Because I am not interested in simply talking about what is wrong with the 93706.

I want to be part of what makes it stronger.

I want young people to have the same kind of memories I had—places where they can learn, create, swim, sew, dance, play, discover who they are, and understand that their neighborhood does not have to define their limitations.

I want residents to know that their voices matter.

I want leaders who have lived through difficult experiences to understand that those experiences can become wisdom and leadership.

I want organizations to stop working in separate lanes and recognize the power that exists when we connect those lanes.

And I want the next generation to know that community still means something.

My two years at Another Level Training Academy have helped me understand that my role is bigger than a job description. I have been given an opportunity to sharpen gifts that were already being developed through my upbringing, my experiences, and the people who poured into me.

I have learned that sometimes the person standing in the background, making the connection, making the phone call, checking on a resident, sharing information, bringing people together, or helping someone find their voice is just as important as the person standing at the podium.

That is where I have found my power.

I am LaCandis Judge.

I am a product of community.

I am a bridge between people and possibilities.

And now, I am committed to becoming part of the investment that once raised me.

Because I don’t just want to live in the 93706.

I want to help build a 93706 where people feel seen, connected, valued, empowered, and proud to call it home.

What was once poured into me, I now have the responsibility—and the privilege—to pour into someone else.

That is my impact.
That is my purpose.
That is my community.