The Pulse Keeps Community Connected

It’s a Friday evening in downtown San Bernardino, and the hum on 4th Street starts before the speakers turn on. Between the murals of Sole Alley and the warm glow spilling from The Pulse, people know what’s coming, not just an event, but an evening that reminds the city what consistency feels like.

Stronger Together Now, a nonprofit whose approach has always been simple - meet people where they are, build with what’s already here, and show up until it takes its own form - anchors the rhythm. The Pulse at 479 W. 4th Street is more than a creative space, it’s a heartbeat that keeps time for programs, partners, and people who believe in the slow, steady work of community change.

Since its ribbon cutting on May 15th, The Pulse has hosted a Juneteenth Block Party, self-defense classes, cold plunges, a People's Party, Art Walk Scavenger Hunts, Coffee Raves, Ngola Preto Velho Roda, Game Night, Open Mic, Summer Healing Festival, Black Men Breathe series, Team Celebration, Fempreneur Workshop, Underground Sole, Off-Route 66, and hot meal distributions. All which led to a cadence of programs that now fills the space weekly. 

Education That Feels Like Belonging

Shadow the Academic Team on a weekday and you’ll find a rotation of youth mentors on campuses, supporting sports-recreation programs, tutoring/mentoring inside or outside of class, uplifting students in dialogue during lunch, and/or canvassing homes to check-in on students with high absenteeism.

In another space down the street, the barbering series has become its own classroom, clippers buzzing alongside conversations with students about how to run a business, what are their confidence levels in certain skill sets, and ways to turn their vision into reality. Ruben is a local barber and business owner of Studio B, who guides high schoolers through the EXL barbering series afterschool. What's more? The barbering series led to a county contract providing haircuts at juvenile detention centers.  Turning a trade into a tool for restoration and dignity, it is mentorship disguised as service: practical, grounded, and deeply connected.

Engagement as Everyday Infrastructure

Engagement at The Pulse doesn’t wait for a festival or grant cycle. It happens every week. Your Blissful Besties provide yoga and sound on Thursdays, CHW San Manuel holds Talking Circles, STN leads free salsa dancing instruction with Maestro Mario Molina every other Sunday, and hosts Community Connect every third Friday.

​When Abstraction Coffee is open, people grab coffee, drop-in to work remotely, and play air hockey or pool during their breaks. Tutoring and mentoring is also held onsite at The Pulse M-F from 3-7pm by appointment.  And very soon, resource-centered guidance by Community Health Workers, will help community members navigate options for health care, housing, employment, education, food assistance, services/programs, transportation and more. 

The Pulse’s monthly calendar reads like a patchwork of what San Bernardino actually needs: space, engagement, and visions brought to life. The Pulse is rented out for private events almost every weekend via Peerspace. Collaborative events bring in local creatives, small business owners, and neighborhood leaders, each one a thread that reinforces the larger fabric of belonging. The idea isn’t to lead every lane; it’s to build bridges between them. 

Empowerment Through Partnership

Empowerment here looks like opportunity shared. When STN secures grants, the funds ripple outward, supporting local artists and facilitators whose work amplifies community voice. Through a new California Arts Council grant, STN will fund Voices on the Wall, a monthly mural art youth workshop led by Arturo Orellana, aka @sauceypasta turning art into mentorship and visibility for a new generation.

That same principle drives the nonprofit’s wider strategy: circulate resources, create access, and keep pathways open. Whether it’s connecting barbers to contracts, students to mentors, or families to community events, STN’s model is rooted in empowerment that lasts longer than a single program cycle.

A Pulse on the City

The Pulse remains in touch with the community needs and works deliberately with partners to meet those needs. One night it’s a gallery and open mic; the next, a Community Connect event meant to engage families and provide a walkable food distribution with a movie night in Sole Alley. The walls inside & outside The Pulse hold stories of collaboration, the kind that only happens when people commit to showing up.

“Our role isn’t to define San Bernardino’s identity. It’s to give people the room to build their own.”

As the evening crowd fills Sole Alley and the music drifts down 4th Street, that mission is visible in every direction, from the Voices on the Wall mural reflecting an unspoken word from its leaders to the Danza offering their gifts through music and movement, and vendors connecting with attendees through products and services. 

This is how community keeps its pulse, not through a single headline or event, but through the work that continues, week after week, right here in the heart of downtown.