COPA Annual Appeal Sent 29 Dec 2020 

We are reaching out to ask your support... Organizing through a Pandemic: COPA’s Year in Review. The pandemic shed new light on old problems by exacerbating the inequities that so many of our families face on the Central Coast. The power of broad-based organizing was more necessary than ever before as we adapted to organizing ‘on-line’ using our time-tested tools of individual meetings and ‘house’ meetings, to understand how the pandemic was playing out in our lives and what we could do to take action. Here’s how COPA is organizing in response to the impacts of Covid-19 on our families:
May 5th, 2020, over 1200 California IAF leaders convened on Zoom, along with 10 Bishops and 9 state legislators to press Governor Newsom to expand the Cal EITC (Earned income tax credits.) More than 1,000 faith and community leaders signed on to a letter in support of the expansion and in the thick of budget negotiations organized hundreds of leaders to send letters to the Governor and to the top leadership of the senate and assembly. With economic forecasts predicting a slow economic recovery, much more work will need to be done. “We are concerned that our low income and undocumented families will continue to be the hardest hit as we inch our way out of this pandemic,” said, Maria Elena Manzo, Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Salinas, and a leader with COPA. “We’ll need to keep expanding this tax credit to reach more people. To that end, we look forward to continuing our meetings with the Governor’s office and with our state and local legislators. We will need to find innovative ways to invest in our families, in their health, their housing, their job training and their employment prospects in difficulty months ahead.
COPA Keeps Families Housed with Rental Assistance and Eviction Moratoriums. In Santa Cruz, COPA worked hard for moratoriums on evictions during the Covid-19 pandemic and resulting negative impact on the local economy. COPA also recognized that we need rental assistance for landlords impacted by the moratoriums especially the "mom and pop" landlords. During a research action with Supervisor Leopold we asked him to help find rental assistance funding. We also asked support from Supervisor Friend. Supervisor Leopold asked that $1.1 million of the CARES funds be set aside for rental assistance in the unincorporated area of the county. The Board of Supervisors approved this action. In addition the County's CDBG application another $1.5 million for rental assistance. The County contracted with CAB and FIT the manage and distribute this assistance which goes directly to the landlord. COPA conducted, in conjunction with CAB and FIT, a virtual workshop on how the rental assistance process works. Supervisor Friend during our research action recommended that we reach out to landlords. Supervisors Leopold and Friend along with over 120 tenants, landlords, CAB and FIT representatives, and COPA leaders participated in this virtual workshop. If new funding becomes available COPA will be at the table to help structure the distribution of the rental assistance funds.
As police departments across the nation came under scrutiny after the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police in May, local police departments in Santa Cruz County were not immune to social unrest. Watsonville residents rallied and called on police to create a law enforcement community oversight committee to address police brutality and racism. Due to COPA’s success in a Public Safety action in February in Watsonville, a City Council member and the Chief of Police reached out to COPA to help strategize and create this committee. COPA has since organized and conducted 10 house meetings to gather input from the community and come back with recommendations on how to improve community trust and accountability of local law enforcement. These recommendations will be submitted to the new Committee on Policing and Social Equity in Watsonville that includes top officers and elected officials.
COPA’s Agenda for 2020 Candidates
On October 4, over 200 COPA leaders met online for a Candidate Accountability Forum with county supervisor candidates John Leopold and Manu Koenig (District 1 in Santa Cruz County) and Steve McShane and Wendy Root Askew (District 4 in Monterey County). COPA leaders presented our priorities for affordable housing construction, rental assistance and moratorium protections, health care access for immigrants and bridging the digital divide for our children.
Community Health Workers to Break the Chain of Infection in Monterey County
Through listening to two thousand stories from phone calls and Zoom house meetings, COPA learned that Covid-19 was continuing to spread among workers because of crowded housing and fear of losing wages and jobs, inhibiting their ability to quarantine to stop the spread. If they did test positive, information and resources were scattered and difficult to access and left many falling through the cracks. COPA researched, designed and advocated for a Community Health Worker program in partnership with several community-based organizations. On December 21, the Monterey County Board of Supervisors approved $4.9 Million to hire 100 Community Health Workers to conduct outreach, prevention education, promote testing, and navigation to support services using a culturally and linguistically appropriate joint problem-solving approach. These workers will help connect people who test positive with needed services, such as temporary housing for quarantine, cash assistance, food, medical care and information about employment rights.
We can’t do this without you! We raise our budget each year from membership dues, Individual donations and foundations. In 2020 we hope to grow our staff so that we can act more broadly on the California Central Coast. We hope to raise $50,000 in individual donations by the end of the year from at least 200 individual donors. Help us create change you can measure & see! COPA is a strictly non-partisan, broad-based organization of 28 religious congregations, labor unions, schools, and nonprofits. Building power in the Monterey Bay region to take action on the issues affecting our families.We challenge ordinary people to identify problems facing their neighborhoods & communities, connect individuals and organizations to multiply their power, and mobilize people by the thousands to bring about measurable and effective change. We are a 501c3 non-profit and affiliated with the Industrial Areas Foundation, the nation’s oldest and largest multi-faith organizing network.
Support us today!	Donate online via our website	Write and send check to COPA, 95 Alta Vista Avenue, Watsonville, CA 95076

COPA Regional Strategy Team

California IAF Declares a Victory for Essential Workers

For Immediate Release—June 30, 2020

Faith and community leaders with the California Industrial Areas Foundation celebrate a victory for essential workers today after Governor Newsom signed a budget that includes an expansion of the California Earned Income Tax Credit (Cal EITC) to undocumented workers with young children.

One out of ten workers in California is undocumented, and their labor has largely fallen into work deemed “essential” throughout the pandemic—in agriculture, food distribution and service, elder care and child care among other occupations.

“What we have been pressing for is justice for essential workers, not charity,” said Fr. Arturo Corral, with Our Lady Queen of Angels Catholic Church, One LA. “It cannot be disputed that immigrant workers are bearing the brunt of pandemic-related health risks in order to keep all our boats afloat. We could not provide food for our families without their labor. They pay billions in local and state taxes, and they contribute over 180 billion dollars to our economy. And they have been ruthlessly left out of federal relief. So,

"Governor Newsom’s decision to include immigrant taxpayers in the Cal EITC means that our state is finally beginning to recognize our immigrant workforce and to value their labor.” - Fr. Arturo Corral, Our Lady Queen of Angels Catholic Church

On May 5, 2020, over 1,200 California IAF leaders convened on Zoom, along with 10 Bishops and 9 state legislators to press Governor Newsom to expand the Cal EITC. More than 1,000 faith and community leaders signed on to a letter in support of the expansion, and in the thick of budget negotiations organized hundreds of leaders to send letters to the Governor and to the top leadership of the senate and assembly.

“Under the states’ current economic situation, we are happy to be able to expand the Earned Income Tax Credit program for ITIN filing California families,” said Senator Maria Elena Durazo, a major proponent for the expansion.

“Thank you to the California IAF members for continuing to push for this inclusion, which United Way sees as a fundamental tool to move families out of poverty. With your continued advocacy, California will move out of this global pandemic, a more united and inclusive state.” - Senator Maria Elena Durazo

While not a full expansion to all undocumented workers, the tax credit will help tens of thousands of families with at least one child under the age of six who pay their taxes using an ITIN. Some households may receive up to $2,600 each year, depending on their income and family size, a significant investment in some of the most vulnerable families impacted by the pandemic.

“We commend Governor Newsom and state legislators for investing in families, especially during a deficit year,” said Rabbi Susan Leider with Congregation Kol Shofar, Marin Organizing Committee. “We know they have faced enormous pressure to cut back, and instead they have paid in. This tax credit is not just a one time handout, but will help families year after year. Our leaders have been working for months to make sure our essential workers aren’t left behind, and this is a huge step forward.”

Community leaders celebrate today, but also know that there is much more to do to buffer immigrant and low-income workers from the health and economic risks ahead. With recent economic forecasts predicting a slow economic recovery, IAF organizations continue to organize hundreds of conversations on the ground, to build power and to uncover other avenues for action.

“We are concerned that our low income and undocumented families will continue to be the hardest hit as we inch our way out of this pandemic,” said Maria Elena Manzo, Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Salinas, and a leader with COPA. “We’ll need to keep expanding this tax credit to reach more people. To that end, we look forward to continuing our meetings with the Governor’s office and with our state and local legislators. We will need to find innovative ways to invest in our families, in their health, their housing, their job training and their employment prospects in difficult months ahead.”

The California IAF represents 8 broad-based organizations from across the state, covering Southern California, the Inland Empire, Central Coast, Bay Area and parts of the Central Valley and Far North. Local organizations work with faith communities, unions, schools and other institutions to teach people the habits and practices of public life. All organizations are nonpartisan, multi-issue and multilingual.

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California Industrial Areas Foundation
https://www.swiaf.org/tags/california_iaf

Immigrant Workers Face Economic Uncertainty During Covid-19 Shutdown, America Magazine

Lideres religiosos piden mas apoyo para la comunidad inmigrante, [VIDEO] Telemundo Bay Area

Local Faith Leaders Support Undocumented Workers, Los Altos Crier

Líderes religiosos piden al estado que apoye a los inmigrantes indocumentados, The Pajaronian

Faith Leaders Call on State to Support Undocumented Immigrants, The Pajaronian

COVID-19 ACTION

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Leaders prepared by the West/Southwest IAF and Interfaith Education Fund leverage local and statewide wins that directly impact family health, wealth and safety.  With your support, we can continue to develop the leaders who will make life better for families and communities in 2020.

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