Meet Our 2023 Food4All Mini-Grant Partners!
Published on Jan 26, 2023 in Immigrants, State Legislation
We are excited to present our 2023 Food4All mini-grant partners! These ten organizations are working closely with Nourish California to uplift the Food4All campaign and communicate its value to policymakers and their own communities.
Our mini-grant partnership is fundamental to the success of the campaign. Through our previous partnerships, mini-grant partners have created community facing documents around Food4All, attended legislative visits, spoken at press conferences, and have engaged members of their own network to participate in legislative advocacy and lead the Food4All work.
Thanks to The California Endowment for making these grants possible.
Central Valley Immigrant Integration Collaborative (CVIIC) - Clovis
Mission: CVIIC is dedicated to ensuring full participation of immigrants in building strong, vibrant, inclusive communities. We do this by collaborating, mobilizing, and combining the resources and talents of our allies to offer, on a large scale, high-quality immigration and naturalization services; strengthening and growing the capacity of our members to serve and empower immigrant communities, and support leadership development by leveraging needed public and private sector resources; working to change the dominant discourse about immigrants and immigration; working to achieve policies which support opportunities for immigrants to pursue their dreams.
"CVIIC supports Food4All because we operate in the Central Valley, a regional of great wealth but also vast socio-economic disparities, high unemployment and poverty rates, as well as an immigrant population that is considered to be among the most vulnerable social sectors. We share the same commitment as the Food4All campaign: to serve and uplift immigrant communities. For CVIIC it is a perfect fit because our mission is to ensure the full participation of immigrants in building strong, healthy, and inclusive communities."
Jesus Martinez Ph.D, Executive Director
Gender Justice Los Angeles - (GJLA)
Los Angeles
Mission: Gender Justice LA (GJLA), is a grassroots social justice organization led by and for gender non-conforming, two spirit, Black, Indigenous, trans people of color in LA. Gender Justice LA organizes, holds space, provides resources, and collaborates with others so that our communities can: resist oppression, develop community responses to violence, heal from present & historical trauma, and come together in ways that feel brave & affirming.
*We know that personally and culturally, our genders are bigger than the language we have.
"Gender Justice LA believes everyone should have access to care, food, nutrition, and housing. During a critical time of ongoing environmental change, increase of anti-immigrant and anti-Trans legislation, and growing income inequality we must center the needs and voices of frontline communities that are directly being impacted. We envision a world where everyone across California, especially our Trans and migrant communities, are able to live joyful, healthy, and equitable lives."
Sonia Guiñansaca, Director of Outreach
Mixteco Indigena Community Organizing Project (MICOP) - Oxnard
Mission: Mixteco's mission is to support, organize and empower the indigenous migrant communities in California’s Central Coast.
"We join the food security movement for the health and wellbeing of our indigenous community and that of our future generation. As indigenous communities we cultivate and steward the land that sustains us, yet solely because of our immigration status, we are excluded from the right to food. Our ancestral knowledge and wisdom is extracted to work the land that feeds and sustains the Golden State, but we see little in return from our labor to sustain our bodies and minds. We are fully committed to food justice until there is food sovereignty for all indigenous communities and people." #Food4All
Vanessa Teran, Policy Director
Centro del Pueblo Movimiento Indigena Migrante - Los Angeles
Mission: We create a space for the latino community and the indigenous peoples of the south, in which we promote awareness of our rights and the cultural and artistic revitalization of our ancestral roots.
"United for the empowerment of the Indigenous Peoples and Latinx Community in Humboldt county for our food sovereignty."
Brenda Perez, Program Director,
National Health Foundation (NHF) - Los Angeles
Mission: National Health Foundation's mission is to improve the health of under-resourced communities.
"NHF is excited to be a partner in the fight for Food4All. We believe that everyone, no matter who they are, where they live, or where they came from, has access to the essential resources, like food, to live a healthy life."
Stephanie Butler, Senior Program Manager
San Diego Hunger Coalition - San Diego
Mission: San Diego Hunger Coalition leads coordinated action to end hunger in San Diego County supported by research, education, and advocacy.
"Implementing Food4All will be a monumental step in establishing equitable access to CalFresh for all residents, regardless of their immigration status. San Diego Hunger Coalition is excited to continue its partnership with hunger relief agencies across the state to remove the institutional barriers to food access.”
Amanda Schultz Brochu, Chief Program Officer
Education and Leadership Foundation (ELF) - Fresno, CA
Mission: Empowering underrepresented communities through immigration services, equitable educational opportunities, and social justice.
Visión y Compromiso (VyC) - Statewide
Mission: Visión y Compromiso (VyC) is committed to community well-being by supporting Promotoras and Community Health Workers. Our vision is Hacia una Vida Digna y Sana, Healthy and Dignified Living for All."
"We support Food 4 All because we believe that everyone regardless of their immigration status, deserves to have healthy food on their plates as part of a dignified life. "
Veronica Arciga Barriga, Promotoras Network Regional Manager
UC San Diego Youth Advisory Council - San Diego
Mission: Comprised of passionate young leaders from throughout San Diego, the UC San Diego Youth Advisory Council (YAC) is a group of highly motivated, hard-working, and passionate young people dedicated to improving health for San Diego communities, especially those communities which have experienced historical and systemic health inequities. Through advocacy and projects planned and led by YAC youth leaders, members work to change the social and environment factors that impact health.
Long Beach Immigrant Rights Coalition
- Long Beach
Mission: LBIRC is building and sustaining a thriving immigrant-led movement to end the criminalization of immigrants and secure bold protections and opportunities that allow immigrant communities to thrive.