Dear Friends,

Los Angeles communities are being hit by multiple crises at once.

The ongoing impact of a devastating warehouse fire threatens the health and livelihoods of families in Boyle Heights and East Los Angeles. Federal cuts are putting food, health care and other basic services at risk for hundreds of thousands of residents. Wage theft continues to strip income from working families already struggling with the cost of living.

These are not separate challenges. They are overlapping crises affecting many of the same communities—and they require more than isolated responses.

At the California Community Foundation, we are taking a holistic approach: meeting urgent needs, strengthening trusted community organizations and investing in the longer-term solutions and accountability necessary to create lasting change. And we are inviting our donors and partners to join us.

Trusted Partners, Ready to Respond

The organizations we support show what that approach looks like on the ground.

When the June 17 Lineage warehouse fire sent toxic smoke across Boyle Heights, East Los Angeles and surrounding communities, residents needed help immediately. The smell of 85 million pounds of rotting food and hazardous smoke has lingered for weeks. Families reported swollen throats, persistent coughs, respiratory distress and nausea. More than 2,000 households sought assistance, and more than 7,000 air purifiers were distributed.

Through CCF’s Impact Fund, we responded quickly, directing $1.5 million to more than 20 nonprofit partners providing emergency cash assistance, mobile medical care, air purifiers and other essential support.

These organizations could move quickly because they were already there. They knew the neighborhoods, had the trust of residents and understood who was most likely to be missed by traditional systems.

Protecting Basic Needs

That same community infrastructure becomes even more important as families face another pressure: cuts to the programs they rely on every day.

As federal policy changes threaten food assistance for hundreds of thousands of Angelenos, St. Joseph Center is helping families put food on the table while also navigating CalFresh and other essential benefits. CCF’s support helps trusted organizations respond not only to hunger today, but also to the confusion and disruption created when public systems change.

Health care presents another version of the same challenge.

St. John’s Community Health has spent years providing care in communities where access is already fragile. Faced with the prospect of significant federal funding cuts, St. John’s and a broad coalition of partners, including CCF, helped lead the successful Measure ER campaign. The measure is expected to generate roughly $1 billion annually to protect health care access for tens of thousands of Angelenos.

That story demonstrates the full range of what strong community organizations can do. They provide services when people need them. They see problems before many institutions do. And, when necessary, they organize and advocate for solutions that change the underlying conditions.

From Relief to Accountability

The same is true when the crisis is economic.

Los Angeles has long struggled with wage theft, with nearly one in three low-wage workers experiencing serious wage violations. Longtime CCF grantee Pilipino Workers Center serves workers who may already be struggling with housing costs, food insecurity, immigration concerns or access to health care.

By helping workers recover stolen wages, understand their rights and hold employers accountable, PWC is addressing another source of instability for the same families and communities under pressure elsewhere.

Communities Experience These Crises Together

Taken together, these stories tell us something important.

A family affected by the Lineage fire may also be worried about losing food assistance. A worker whose wages have been stolen may also depend on a community clinic for health care. A neighborhood facing environmental hazards may also be dealing with housing instability, immigration enforcement or cuts to basic services.

People do not experience these challenges in silos. Neither should philanthropy.

That is why CCF invests in organizations with deep roots, credibility and proven track records—and why we are increasingly connecting immediate relief to advocacy, accountability, economic opportunity and long-term community resilience.

CCF Is Committing More of Our Own Resources

It is also why CCF is committing more of our own resources to this moment.

We are increasing discretionary grantmaking where the need is particularly acute, including housing, immigration defense, civic engagement and community voice. This is a deliberate, time-bounded response that allows us to act with greater urgency while giving our donors the opportunity to invest alongside us in the people and organizations closest to these challenges.

We are also putting our investment capital to work.

For the first time in CCF’s history, we have established an Impact-First Pool of more than $80 million, which will be deployed exclusively in Los Angeles County to support community-rooted organizations and solutions.

If we are asking our donors and partners to step forward at a consequential moment for Los Angeles, we believe CCF should be prepared to do the same.

Grantmaking, investment, advocacy, convening and donor engagement are different tools, but they serve the same purpose: helping trusted organizations meet immediate needs while building the conditions for lasting change.

Your Partnership Matters

That is where our partnership with you matters.

Many of you know Los Angeles deeply. You bring your own experiences, relationships and perspectives to the work. We want to hear what you are seeing, where you believe philanthropy can make the greatest difference and how CCF can help connect your giving to the needs and opportunities emerging across the county.

Whether responding to an environmental disaster, protecting access to food and health care, defending workers or strengthening community voice, our commitment is the same: meet the moment, support the people and organizations closest to the work, and invest in a stronger Los Angeles for the long term.

Thank you for standing with us—and with Los Angeles.

P.S.:

Take a Look—and Tell Us What You Think

We recently refreshed CCF’s website to better reflect this approach, our Strategic Framework, our community impact and the work of our partners across Los Angeles County.

I invite you to take a look. More importantly, I would welcome your feedback—what resonates, what you are seeing in the communities you care about and how CCF can be an even stronger partner in helping you make a difference in Los Angeles. Email me directly at msantana@calfund.org.

With gratitude,

Miguel A. Santana
President and CEO
California Community Foundation