We’re Still Here For You

Things have been moving and shaking here at CHD but we want to ensure you we’re still here and doing our best to serve our community. We are happy to reconnect with you and share some updates in regards to what California Human Development has been doing in the past month.

CHD Response to COVID-19 and the Immigrant Population

California Human Development has served a diverse and large population of the immigrant community since 1967; serving those who needed help, support, and care during unprecedented and difficult times. Year after year CHD has been committed to serving the needs of the immigrant population by providing diverse and robust programs designed to accomplish self-sufficiency. We have a highly trained, dedicated, and a strong team of individuals ready to serve our immigrant population during times of extreme hardship and enormous needs. While COVID-19 has changed our program design and structure, we pivoted our organization and decided to act based on our communities’ needs. The California Department of Social Services reached out to CHD to provide one-time state-funded relief assistance for the undocumented and immigrant community impacted by COVID-19. With no hesitation, CHD decided to act upon this great opportunity for our community, as we knew there was a need for monetary assistance.

The DRAI Program

The Disaster Relief Assistance for Immigrants (DRAI) project is a one-time state-funded disaster relief assistance for undocumented adult immigrants impacted by COVID-19. On May 18, 2020, CHD committed to distributing 10,000 debit cards to 24 Northern California counties. CHD hired over 50 staff members highly trained to answer and respond to the needs of our community. Today, CHD is extremely proud to announce that we have reached our goal to serve 10,000 immigrant and undocumented individuals to receive relief assistance. Through hard work and strategic goals, our team members were able to assist with this enormous opportunity. We would like to thank our staff members, community members, and partners for the support and amazing work that has helped many during difficult times. Down below are team members’ responses to assisting with the DRAI program.

Debbie Guerrero: “It was a pleasure to serve our immigrant population. It was not easy, but very rewarding.”

Luisa Palacios: “It wasn’t easy helping people navigate through their phones, but many people were thankful for the assistance. We all learned something new.”

Laura Canul: “Wow! At times it was very overwhelming to take calls after calls, but each and every conversation I had with an individual made me feel great about what I was doing. The immigrant population was very humbled about this assistance.”

SCF Foundation COVID Response Grant

In June we were approved to receive grant support for our Parkway Plaza community to keep our senior population healthy, safe, and connected during COVID-19. We are excited to announce this opportunity to bring tablets and digital tools to our seniors to ensure they can stay connected to their Telehealth appointments, as well as stay connected through virtual wellness workshops! This grant funding will also ensure we have a healthy stock of essential supplies at this location for this vulnerable population. This is all thanks to the Solano Community Foundation’s Emergency COVID-19 Response Grant. Thank you to the Solano Community Foundation and everyone who made this possible during these unprecedented times!

DACA Upheld! & The Dream Fund

June 18th, 2020 will be remembered as a historic day in which the Supreme Court of the United States of America reaffirmed the future of the protections promised to “Dreamers”. California Human Development (CHD) is taking action to support these young immigrants by assisting the DACA application process for new recipients, while also renewing current statuses. As a response to this breaking news, we have renewed our Dream Fund, which is an allocated fund specifically dedicated to processing DACA applications and renewals. This fund enables CHD to support the low-income DACA eligible recipients with easing the burden of the cost of the application We want to send a heartfelt and warm thanks to those who have graciously donated to this fund and contributed to the monies set aside to quickly and efficiently process the influx of DACA renewals and new applicants while easing the economic burden that COVID-19 has placed on these populations.