Immigrant Families Recovery Program Update

Coachella Immigrant Families Recovery Program meets quota

COACHELLA — The Coachella Immigrant Families Recovery Program has met its quota of enrolling 140 qualifying low-income immigrant families who were excluded from federal assistance stemming from COVID-19, including the expanded Child Tax Credit.

“I am really pleased that we have afforded these families the opportunity to gain a sense of financial stability, but this is only the beginning,” Coachella Mayor Steven Hernandez said in a statement. “Our hope is that this funding paves the road towards a continuous path of growth that will include critical life skills such as financial literacy that will lead them toward a more promising future.”

The city of Coachella launched the program on Oct. 12, 2022, in partnership with Northern California-based Mission Asset Fund (MAF).

MAF is a nonprofit helping low-income and immigrant communities become visible, active, and successful in their financial lives. Through award-winning financial services and programs, MAF has funded more than 16,000 loans to people across the country, helping them to increase credit scores, pay down debt, and save for important goals like becoming a homeowner, a business owner, or a U.S. citizen. During the pandemic, MAF continued to meet people where they are, raising nearly $100 million to provide more than 65,000 emergency cash grants to workers, students, and immigrant families left out of federal COVID-19 relief. For more information, please visit www.missionassetfund.org.

The application portal located on the program website has officially closed.

Outreach to prospective applicants throughout the city was accomplished through a series of in-person and virtual community outreach efforts in conjunction with several local partners, including Lift to Rise, the California Farmworker Foundation (CFF), the Council of Mexican Federations in North America (COFEM), and a network of other allies a part of the Coachella Valley Equity Collaborative.

“Our ongoing commitment is to provide our community with the tools and resources they need to keep propelling forward,” Mayor Pro Tem Neftali Galarza said in a statement.

Money for this program was appropriated through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds in the amount of one million eight thousand dollars ($1,008,000) and will provide selected families with $400 monthly in cash assistance for 12 or 24 months. The goal of the Program is to help Coachella families rebuild their lives with dignity through financial coaching, group workshops, and self-advocacy training.

“We are thrilled to provide Coachella families the help and training they need to rebuild their financial lives during such challenging times,” MAF CEO said in a statement José Quiñonez. “We are bringing the best of technology to serve families too often left behind and doing so with dignity and respect. While there is much work ahead, we look forward to sharing insights and lessons learned from working with families directly to shape policies and programs on how best to show up for people in their time of need.”