Latino Community Foundation - Community Power Fund

Right now, across the country, immigrant and Latino families are living in fear. A mother is deciding whether to go to the job she needs tomorrow, knowing that masked agents could storm her workplace at any moment. A cancer patient is putting off treatment, so he doesn’t get arrested on the way to the hospital. A kindergartener is worrying about stepping out the front door to go to school, terrified that she will be taken from her family.

From Los Angeles to Minneapolis, and too many places in between, harmful enforcement activities by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other federal immigration authorities are terrorizing communities and separating families. They are being unleashed into neighborhoods with little training, low supervision, and almost no accountability. Geraldo Lunas Campos was murdered in an ICE detention facility. Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti were killed by federal agents for simply exercising their constitutional rights in defense of their neighbors. Every community in America is vulnerable to their violence and destruction.

Lives and livelihoods are on the line. And so is our democracy itself.

The Fund will support efforts to hold ICE accountable for the illegal actions, violence, and trauma it is wreaking on American communities, prioritizing:

Real-time monitoring and legal observation, including training community observers, recording ICE actions, filming confrontations, and sharing footage publicly.
Rapid response networks that organize direct action, including Know Your Rights education, accompaniment, and hotline coordination.
Legal advocacy and litigation challenging unlawful enforcement practices, detention conditions, and government or private contractor misconduct.
Policy, legislative, and oversight work that increases
transparency and limits harmful enforcement practices, such as advocacy for local legislation to prosecute DHS agents for unlawful actions and harm.
Research, data, and investigative journalism documenting enforcement patterns, detention conditions, and community impact.

The Fund will also support families and individuals in crisis by giving resources to local, grassroots Latino-serving nonprofits that are working to:

Coordinate direct assistance and essential services for directly impacted individuals and families, such as neighborhood volunteer deliveries of groceries and infant care needs.
Provide immediate economic support, such as cash assistance, rental assistance, and food assistance for impacted individuals and families.
Offer mental health and trauma support, such as short-term crisis counseling, support for children and caregivers, trainings in psychological first aid, healing and rest practices for organizers and volunteers.

Region(s) Served: Central California, Northern California, San Diego & Imperial Counties, Southern California, Statewide
Targeted Communities: Community-Based Organizations
Target Focus/Issue Area(s): Democracy & Civic Engagement, Basic Needs, Health & Wellness, Immigration, Justice Reform, Legal Advocacy
Type of Support: Grants
Funding Accessibility: Invite only
Scale of Funding Offered: $25k - $50k
Timeline of Grant Period: 1 year +