In the heart of our community, promotoras like Maria have become trusted neighbors and advocates.Maria,whohaslivedinEastPaloAltofor 36 years, understands the struggles of navigating complexsystems.“WhenIdocommunityoutreach, residents already know me and ask me about new projects. They get excited when there are new projects and they like that Nuestra Casa always cares about the community.” Maria and her fellow promotorasgobeyondprovidinginformation;they build relationships. Through regular door-to-door canvassingandtablingoutreach,theyconnectwith hundreds of residents each month, in English and Spanish, ensuring families are aware of vital programs and resources like Medi-Cal, CalFresh, CalWORKS,andhousingassistance.Whenaresident expressesconcernaboutpubliccharge,promotoras canofferreassuranceandpracticaladvice.Andit’s not just about handing out flyers promotoras connectthemtocasemanagementservicesforoneon-one support. They also connect residents to legalresourcesforimmigrationandhousingissues.
Our Community Outreach Program is a core componentoftheLIBREProject,acollaborationof community-basedorganizationsandtheSanMateo County Human Services Agency. LIBRE plays a pivotal role in helping our immigrant community understand and navigate an array of safety net services. We are also part of the UndocuSupport Initiative. UndocuSupport provides training and constant updates on protections and resources for ourundocumentedandmixedstatusfamilies.
EXPANDINGOURCASE MANAGEMENTCAPACITY
AtNuestraCasa,thewarmthandfamiliarityofthe staffmakeitaplacewhereresidentsfeeltrulyat home.Formany,it’snotjustthebilingualsupport in Spanish that resonates, but the shared understanding and experiences. Thanks to the support of local funders, Nuestra Casa expanded its capacity to offer case management during FY 2024 to help residents in need of safety net or affordablehousingresources.
Forexample,Anafacedtheterrifyingprospectof eviction.Asbillspiledup,shedidn’tknowwhere to turn until she stepped through the doors of Nuestra Casa. The staff immediately sprang into action, guiding her through the process of applying for emergency assistance. “Kassandra [our Community Program Assistant] walked me throughtheentireprocessuntilitwasdone,and evencheckedonmeafter,”saysAna. Oursupport isalifelineforhouseholdslikeAna’s.
This past summer we submitted our first application to the Housing Industry Foundation (HIF) emergency fund on behalf of Ana. The wait wastough,butthesupportAnareceivedfromour team kept her spirits up. Her application was approved,coveringthemajorityoftherentowed.
“The funds that I received were life-changing,” Anasayswithgratitude.“Ittookatonofstressoff myshouldersduringthistoughtime.”
Civicparticipationandpowerbuildingarecentralto our work, ensuring every resident has the tools to advocate for their community. This dedication is wovenacrossallourprograms,fromworkshopson affordable housing policy and drinking water qualitytohands-oncivicengagementopportunities.
AliciaMcKeanshares,“Inthepast,whenwetriedto make changes in East Palo Alto, it was hard to get thingsdone.ButwiththetrainingIreceivedthrough theEnvironmentalJustice (EJ)Academy,Iwasable toputmyideasintoaction.Forinstance,Iidentified amajorprobleminmycommunity thequalityand affordability of drinking water and developed a solution.” Working with Nuestra Casa, Alicia obtained funding for a bottle-filling station and connected with the right city staff members to installthestationatJackFarrellPark.
“NowIknowwhichdoortoknockonandsay,‘I’m serious about this issue, and we need something doneaboutit.’”SheisnowpartofourCommunity Water Task Force, shaping advocacy for East Palo Alto’swaterinfrastructureandaffordability.
Through EJ Academy and our other initiatives, we ensure that community members are not only informed but also actively engaging in shaping the policiesthataffecttheirlives.
Ourhousinginitiativesarerootedincommunity education, community-driven advocacy, and movement building. During FY 2024, we hosted and taped community programs in Spanish aboutaffordablehousingpoliciesandprograms. These two programs offered community members an opportunity to talk with elected officials and program experts about their questions and concerns. In addition, we organized a 3-night Housing Workshop—also in Spanish last Spring aimed at enabling community members to delve deeper into affordable housing policies and learn about opportunities to engage in housing-related advocacy. We are committed to continued engagementtohelpidentifyadvocacypriorities and enhance the civic engagement skills of communitymembers.
We prioritize information sharing through our Community Outreach team, which distributes a comprehensiveHousingResourceGuideforEast Palo Alto. We also consistently share timely updates about housing access and policy issues throughoursocialmediaplatforms.
PARTNERSHIPS& POLICYADVOCACY
We’re proud to be involved in important initiatives such as the Coalition for Fair HousingElementsandtheSanMateoCounty Anti-Displacement Coalition. We collaborate with other community-based organizations through these initiatives to address local housing needs. Our advocacy work on the Housing Element includes a social media seriesandvideosonplatformslikeInstagram, helping to raise awareness about housing policiesandresidents’rights.
This spring, we launched an educational campaign about the Ravenswood Business District in partnership with Green Foothills, SierraClub,SequoiaAudubonSociety,andSF Bay Citizens’ Committee to Complete the Refuge. Our collective aim is to ensure that frontline community members understand theproposeddevelopmentandhowtheycan participateinshapingthefutureoftheircity.
We summarized this extensive technical Report’sfindingsforresidentsandexplained how to provide feedback to their elected officials during the public comment period [Noticias,VirtualPresentation,FactSheet].
COMMUNITYMEMBERS
PARTICIPATEDINHOUSING PROGRAMMING
Nuestra Casa's Promotoras are the heart of everything we do, serving as trusted, bilingual advocates who connect families to important communityissuesandsafetynetresources.Our Promotoras live in and are reflective of the communities they serve. These passionate women deliver culturally relevant information and drive positive change in areas like health, social services, economic empowerment, and environmentalandhousingjustice.Weequipour Promotoraswithtraining,tools,andresourcesto grow as leaders. Their lived experiences and deepunderstandingofcommunityneedsenable them to provide vital feedback that shapes our programs, amplifies community voices, and createslastingopportunitiesfor families. WHATISAPROMOTORA?
Our environmental justice program area functions as a three-legged stool where we balance community education, community engagement,andcommunity-drivenadvocacyto affectchange.
COMMUNITYEDUCATION
The first "leg" consists of environmental education efforts aimed at informing our community. Our cornerstone program is the EnvironmentalJusticeAcademy,amulti-session workshop that provides participants with knowledgeonenvironmentaljustice,airquality, waterjustice,sealevelrise,andflooding.Weare alsopartoftheleadershipfortheEstuaryYouth Council, which aims to develop the next generation of environmental leaders. Other community education initiatives focus on specific topics, such as our Ventana Abierta workshop and Fall 2023 Community Conversation,whichoffervaluableinsightsinto East Palo Alto's drinking water infrastructure. Our Disaster Preparedness Noticias addresses the crucial need for information about emergencies in our community in English and Spanish. Additionally, our Groundwater Rise Noticiasinformscommunitymembersaboutthe impactofsealevelrisepushinggroundwaterto the surface. We also share numerous social media stories, including El Niño. All of these educationeffortslaythefoundationforthenext leg of the stool, which is community engagement.
Our environmental justice program’s community engagement work is designed to unlocktheleadershippotentialofcommunity members and elevate their voices. One exampleistheCommunityWaterTaskForce, which we initiated and lead. In FY 2024, we collaborated with community members to better understand the drinking water infrastructure in East Palo Alto, identify persistent issues, and seek solutions. We hosted meetings connecting the Task Force with California State Water Board officials, elected officials, technical experts, and local water companies. Our staff continues to support the Task Force in developing a campaign for their priority issues, such as advocating to the CA State Waterboard to classify East Palo Alto as a disadvantaged community. Reclassifying the City’s status wouldopendoorstoadditionalfundingforits aginginfrastructure.
Additionally,wepartneredwithresearchersat StanfordUniversitytodevelopandadminister a Tap Water Trust Survey and a Water AffordabilitySurvey.Findingsfromthestudies helpelevatecommunitymembers’voicesand support the Community Water Task Force’s efforts.
COMMUNITY-DRIVENADVOCACY
The final leg of the stool is community-driven advocacy. Through programs like EJ Academy andCommunityWaterTaskForce,wefacilitate communicationbetweencommunitymembers andgovernmentofficialstoenableadvocacyfor immediateandtangiblesolutions.Werepresent our community in various committees and projects,providingcommunityperspectivesto inform government decision-making. For instance,weparticipateintheSanFrancisquito Creek Joint Powers Authority SAFER Bay Project, where we recruit and connect communitymemberstoplanningeffortsaimed at critical flood risk mitigation and implementationprojects.Wearealsoamember of Bay Area Climate Adaptation Network (BayCAN).
Weparticipateinnumerouscollaborativesand planningcommitteestoensurethatequityand justice remain central to climate discussions. Weareonthesteeringcommittees forthe
SanMateoCountyClimateSummitandtheStateof the Estuary Conference. We are also involved in Stanford’s Partnership for Climate Justice in the BayAreaandPolicyLink’sWaterEquityandClimate ResilienceCaucus.Furthermore,weleadthePACT collaborative, which focuses on amplifying disadvantaged community voices, advocating for contaminated site cleanup, and promoting infrastructureresilienceinareasthreatenedbysea levelandgroundwaterrise.
In 2019, Nuestra Casa launched the Food Recovery Program as a pilot in partnership with SanMateoCountyandSecondHarvestofSilicon Valley. What started as a small initiative quickly became a lifeline during the pandemic, with demandtriplingovernight.Initially,theprogram rescuedabout10,000poundsoffoodmonthly.By 2021, this number had grown to 30,000 pounds with 6,000 grocery kits distributed monthly. We scaled the program back during FY 2024 due to programcosts.
After five impactful years, Nuestra Casa's Food Recovery Program concluded on June 30, 2024. This difficult decision was driven by the end of pandemic-related funding, a challenge faced by manyorganizationsnationwide.Whilewecanno longer provide food directly, Nuestra Casa remainscommittedtosupportingourcommunity throughthistransition.Wecontinuetoassistwith CalFresh applications and connect residents to otherlocalfoodresources,includingdistribution sitesandfarmers’markets.
