Ventures

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.

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.

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.