Latino Community Foundation Just Recovery Initiative

About the Latino Community Foundation Just Recovery Initiative 

In 2017, the Latino Community Foundation launched the NorCal Wildfire Just Recovery Campaign in response to the devastating wildfires that swept across Napa and Sonoma counties. Many Latino families endured ongoing struggles to find work that paid a living wage, affordable housing, and high-quality education even before the fires. The fires exacerbated the crisis. The Latino Community Fund launched this campaign to fund grassroots organizations closest to the crisis and prioritize the needs of the Latino population.  

Impact on frontline communities  

The Latino Community Foundation took this as an “opportunity to transform the region, invest in change, not charity.” Together with La Luz Center, UpValley Family Centers, and North Bay Organizing Project (community-based organizations in Napa and Sonoma counties), they co-designed a short and long-term strategy to unite Latino leaders, invest in Latino nonprofits, and build people power. The $1.3 million strategy consists of three phases:  

1. Relief: meet immediate needs of families  

2. Recovery: strengthen Latino-led grassroots organizing closest to the crises, allowing them to hire additional staff  

3. Resilience: build lasting power by mobilizing the Latino vote, ensuring an accurate census count, and promoting policies to address the housing crisis 

More resources 

• Latino Community Foundation - Wildfire Relief Fund 

• Latino Community Foundation - Just Recovery One Year Later One Pager 

• Latino Community Foundation - What is Just Recovery 

• Latino Community Foundation invests $1.3 million in Sonoma’s immigrant community to support a Just Recovery  

• Latino Community Foundation - Disaster Philanthropy as an Organizing Opportunity