Supporting California’s Rural Communities: $2.3 Million in Grants to Further Expand Immigrant Integration in Rural Regions
SACRAMENTO, CA – The Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) has awarded more than $2.3 million to ten local governments under the state’s second round of the Local Immigrant Integration and Inclusion Grant (LIIIG) program. This follows last year’s awarding of $6.1 million to twelve local governments—California’s first-ever grants to support local governments’ efforts on immigrant integration.
California’s immigrant population makes up 27 percent of the state’s total population, and nearly 10 percent of those individuals reside in rural regions. Immigrants in California are long-settled residents powering the state’s workforce and small businesses and supporting economic growth. Their ability to navigate services where they live, and work is important for the health and success of local communities. This new round of funding prioritizes support for local governments in rural regions with large immigrant populations and where services to effectively reach diverse immigrant communities are limited due to language barriers and resources. This includes Imperial, Kern, Monterey, Napa, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, Sonoma, Tulare, and Ventura counties.
“GO-Biz is proud to award a second round of state funding to local governments who are prioritizing immigrant integration efforts in rural areas,” said Emily Desai, GO-Biz Senior Deputy Director for Global and Strategic Program Planning and External Affairs. “We know there are unique challenges in reaching and supporting immigrant communities in the underserved parts of our state. These grants represent our commitment to empowering local governments to foster economic mobility and social inclusion among California’s immigrant populations, no matter where they reside.”
The LIIIG program is the first-ever state funding focused on local government immigrant integration efforts. These grants enhance local governments’ abilities to serve their immigrant communities, intending to help immigrant families thrive and build community trust.
Eligible activities for LIIIG funding include:
- Economic Development: Supporting immigrant entrepreneurs with creating and scaling businesses.
- Social Services Navigation: Helping immigrants access essential public programs, such as healthcare, housing assistance, legal services, education services, and food programs.
- Intergovernmental Technical Assistance: Developing and implementing policies and best practices to serve the immigrant population.
Additional details about the award recipients and future announcements are available on the LIIIG website and in the table below.
| GRANTEES | CATEGORY | TOTAL AWARD AMOUNT |
| Daly City |
Economic Development and Social Services Navigation: 1. Enhance digital and financial literacy among hard-to-reach immigrants through workshops and outreach. 2. Boost community engagement to improve access to vital information and services. |
$161,749.00 |
|
Imperial County
|
Economic Development: 1. Assist immigrant entrepreneurs with business counseling, financial literacy training, access to capital, and resource development. 2. Offer culturally sensitive economic development resources to enhance economic well-being. |
$295,338.07 |
| Kern County |
Economic Development and Social Services Navigation: 1. Foster economic mobility through entrepreneurship training, workforce development, and education resource awareness. 2. Help the immigrant communities, particularly farmworkers, navigate economic and social services programs. |
$249,859.49
|
|
Monterey County
|
Social Services Navigation: 1. Assist immigrant communities and farm workers with social services navigation. 2. Leverage the county’s mobile office to engage communities and offer on-site assistance. |
$264,122.49 |
|
Napa County
|
Social Services Navigation: 1. Collaborate with nonprofits and Family Resource Centers to conduct outreach, education, and case management, focusing on health insurance and housing services. 2. Assist with referrals and class enrollment for educational opportunities. |
$161,872.12
|
|
Santa Barbara County
|
Social Services Navigation: 1. Provide education, outreach, and case management to enhance access to social services such as emergency support, education, employment, health, financial aid, and labor rights. 2. Leverage community partnerships to increase access to local resources for immigrant communities. |
$320,619.74
|
|
Santa Cruz County
|
Social Services Navigation 1. Lead the Inmigrantes Juntos y Contectados program to increase access to health benefits, focusing on Medi-Cal application assistance. 2. Build trust and community engagement through workshops and outreach events. |
$233,761.16
|
|
Sonoma County
|
Economic Development: 1. Provide digital literacy workshops for immigrant communities. 2. Collaborate with the County Administrator’s Office to conduct asset mapping and gap analysis for better connectivity and delivery of economic and social services to immigrants. |
$141,235.60
|
|
Tulare County
|
Social Services Navigation: 1. Enhance the county’s 211 Care Coordination system to improve access to social services, community engagement, and specialized case management. 2. Increase service delivery through existing community partnerships through strategic planning, continuous oversight, and data utilization. |
$180,480.00
|
|
Ventura County Health Care Agency
|
Social Services Navigation: 1. Provide social service navigation and language support to improve immigrant communities’ access to healthcare and public services. 2. Promote linguistically and culturally accessible resources. |
$319,482.75
|
| Total | $2,328,520.42 |
About GO-Biz
The Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) serves as the State of California’s leader for job growth and economic development efforts. GO-Biz offers a range of services to business owners including: attraction, retention and expansion services, site selection, permit streamlining, clearing of regulatory hurdles, small business assistance, international trade development, assistance with state government, and much more. For more information visit the GO-Biz website.