VCCF Launches Fund to Assist People Impacted by Immigration Raids

Este artículo fue publicado originalmente por Ojai Valley News.

Groups throughout Ojai and Ventura County are stepping up to support families that have been displaced or are in need of support due to the recent and ongoing immigration actions.

Ventura County Community Foundation has launched the Ventura County Neighbors Support Fund, a way to help provide “immediate relief” for families affected by the “fear, confusion and uncertainty” resulting from the recent immigration operations.

“I just want to do everything possible to help them,” said Vanessa Bechtel, president and CEO of the Ventura County Community Foundation. “I think that’s one of the things we’re all able to give our neighbors right now, too, is a reminder that they’re not alone, and that we care, that their community cares.”

Launched July 28, the Neighbors Support Fund is described as a collaboration between civic, business, nonprofit, education and faith leaders to provide relief during “the instability and economic hardship facing Ventura County families in light of the recent events.”

This includes the immigration operations that occurred in Camarillo and Carpinteria on July 10 at the Glass House Farms cannabis facilities, which resulted in the arrest of 361 people, one death, a CSUCI professor facing criminal charges, and the discovery of 14 minors.

“What’s happening now is really disproportionately impacting our lowest-income neighbors,” Bechtel said. “But it’s not just about the monetary side. It’s really about all of us saying Ventura County is a place where everybody counts, where everybody matters and we’re a community.”

Through various community partners and donations, the fund aims to provide food, transportation, essential supplies for families in need, emergency shelter, rental assistance, and other needs to families, children, workers, students and neighbors who are most vulnerable.

After donations are collected, grants are made available to local organizations to support these needs.

“We’ve released a grant application this part week, and we are already seeing just a tremendous need coming in from organizations that are working with families,” Bechtel said, emphasizing a need for help with rental assistance and food support for households that lost a critical family member providing needed income.

So far, Bechtel said $105,000 has been committed to the fund, and that it will be an ongoing campaign and relief effort.

She also described the web of community support from organizations partnering together to address the various needs.

“Some organizations are like, okay, we’re going to take rental assistance. Other organizations are saying, okay, we’re going to help children get to school safely, we’re going to help families work out plans, mental-health support, emergency child care when a family has lost a loved one when someone has been taken, really making sure that they’re partnering together, she said. “I’m witnessing that in real time every day. I’ve seen heroic actions happening.”

Bechtel also discussed the scholarship program underway by Your Community Foundation, which has resulted in $1.7 million in scholarships this year.

“You can imagine, these 17- and 18-year-olds about ready to embark on their life. And one of the students wasn’t able to accept her scholarship recognition because her parents had been impacted by the raids,” Bechtel said. “There’s just the reality that she might not be able to, and I think about the stress that this is having on our young people, our kids, 8-year-olds, 17-year-olds, 5-year-olds, just the stress and anxiety. They’re so worried about their families, they’re worried about their parents, they’re afraid to go to school, they’re afraid to go to work.

“When I was that age, I was worried about how to buy a bicycle, and how to pay for textbooks. I wasn’t worried about the safety of my parents and my family and whether we were going to be able to be together.”

Local organizations are encouraged to apply for support, and can view eligibility criteria and application guidelines online at vccf.org/neighbors-support-fund/

Donations from community members are also being accepted online at vccf.org/donate/donate-to-support-disaster-relief/

“For me, those stories, and talking to these young people, that’s what does it for me,” Bechtel said. “When you see the impact, it can really get to you and make you want to do all that you can.”

To read the full article, visit the Ojai Valley News website.