October 25, 2018—The California Wellness Foundation recently approved $5.2 million in grants under its Advancing Wellness grants program. These grants include $600,000 for support to organizations assisting migrants and asylum-seekers at the San Diego border.
The border-related grantmaking is informed by a fact-finding trip to the San Diego-Tijuana border in August, organized by Hispanics in Philanthropy, to listen and learn from advocates, service providers and funders. Cal Wellness, together with other funders, learned about the best approaches to support migrants, most of whom are fleeing extreme violence in Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador.
“We were witness to a humanitarian crisis,” said Fatima Angeles, vice president of programs. “Many of the migrants at our border, including thousands of children, are running for their lives. They’re fleeing the threat of injury, rape and murder in countries being torn apart by gang violence. Yet most of these people are being forcefully detained without anyone to plead their case.”
Cal Wellness is prioritizing grants to organizations providing legal support because the data shows migrants represented by lawyers have a 90% chance of winning their case. Those without lawyers have a 17% chance. Grants to ACLU Foundation of San Diego and Imperial Counties, Immigration Justice Project/American Bar Association/Fund for Justice and Education and Casa Cornelia Law Center will support adults and children detained at the border though immigration-focused legal services.
In addition to grants supporting migrants at the border, Cal Wellness announced $1.1 million in investments for marginalized communities throughout California. Cal Wellness made grants to Center on Policy Initiatives, United Way of Fresno County, Working Partnerships USA, and the National Health Law Program, Inc., which will work to advance wellness through efforts such as organizing, community education, communications and leadership development.
Cal Wellness also will continue to support improved oral health care s for low-income adults and seniors through a $225,000 grant to Ravenswood Family Health Center. A $650,000 grant to the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research will go toward collecting and analyzing data on the oral health of adults and seniors.
To conduct an independent evaluation of Cal Wellness’ women’s initiatives, The National Black Women’s Justice Institute received a $200,000 grant.
A complete list of Cal Wellness’ recent grants can be found here.
About the California Wellness Foundation
The California Wellness Foundation’s mission is to protect and improve the health and wellness of the people of California by increasing access to health care, quality education, good jobs, healthy environments and safe neighborhoods. Since its founding in 1992, Cal Wellness has awarded more than $1 billion in charitable contributions and 9,229 grants.