Ventures

Emergency Relief & Safety Net Services As a trusted intermediary during times of crisis Ventures provide relief to community members in need who are not comfortable working with institutions or who are left out of our safety net. - UndocuFund Monterey Bay provides cash assistance to Monterey Bay area undocumented immigrant workers impacted by emergencies.- Wildfires Relief Services for Immigrants provides rental and food assistance to undocumented workers impacted by the 2020 Monterey and Santa Cruz Wildfires, many of them farmworkers.

Financial Capability (Familias con Ms) works on two areas:- Education to build knowledge and skills on fair banking practices, savings, budgeting, credit, debt, overdraft fees, and predatory lenders through workshops, coaching, and community outreach.- Advocacy to address financial inequities, including the prevalence of predatory lenders, currently twice the rate in Watsonville than the city of Santa Cruz.

Asset Building - Ensures families and youth can build wealth. This includes: - Semilitas a community partnership that provides children's savings accounts for newborns in the county. The effort focuses on improving children's social emotional development, create a culture supporting post-secondary education, and increase assets and build financial capability of participating families. - Futuro - aims to be a worker-owned cooperative business structure and network that provides income and wealth building for Salinas Valley working-class Latino families. - Alas - which means wings in Spanish, is a six-month financial stability program to help working-class Latino families build community, self-determination, and financial wellbeing. Cohort model incorporates: - Guaranteed Income: families receive $500 /month for 6-months - Education and Resources: Participants receive monthly workshops and individual financial coaching to build savings, establish/ improve credit, build their savings, and reach personal financial goals. - Community Building: Participants work both as a large cohort, and in small groups with neighbors in their own cities. This ensures that they have a community to lean on after completing the program.