Hello,
We hope you are healthy and doing well. The Social Justice Fund for Ventura County condemns racism in all forms and the ongoing violent attacks against the Asian-American and Pacific Islander community. These hateful and violent acts underscore the struggles we face in becoming a truly just and inclusive society. We urge you to click on this link to view our complete statement supporting the AAPI community and actions you can take now.
The Social Justice Fund also expresses our deepest sympathy to the families of the victims in the Boulder, CO mass shooting. We are horrified and saddened by this violence. We believe that a multi-faceted and science-based approach is needed to address the epidemic of gun violence.
The vaccination efforts have begun and one in six American adults have been vaccinated! However, it is important to note that, despite being disproportionately impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, Black and Latino communities continue to have less access to the Covid-19 vaccination. If the vaccination trend shows equitable outcomes in our county and if infection rates continue to drop, we hope to organize an in-person event. At the event, you will meet our fellows, learn about the social justice issues in our county, and hear ways you can participate in the actions we are taking to create change.
Here are some highlights for this month:
- The board has set a schedule to launch our next wave of grants to Social Justice Fellows. We will start accepting new letters of interest this summer, and grant awards will be announced in the fall. If you are, or know of, a potential candidate, please contact us at the email addresses below. To allow for an equitable and timely investment in our community, we are also allocating a portion of our budget to be available for emerging leaders who may have a project that will meet an immediate and urgent community need. Applications for our “Urgent Needs” grants will be accepted on an ongoing and rolling basis. To learn more about our “Urgent Needs” grants and whether your project qualifies, please contact our Executive Director, Dr. Martita Martinez-Bravo.
- Join us in supporting the 805 AAPI Solidarity Candlelight Vigil on April 3, 2021 at 6 pm at Central Park in Riverpark, located at 3200 N. Oxnard Blvd. 805 AAPI Solidarity is a recently formed Asian American and Pacific Islander community-based organization dedicated to the advancement of AAPI civil rights in Ventura County. It was started by a group of emerging leaders from California State University Channel Islands. The Social Justice Fund for Ventura County is a proud sponsor of the event. To find out more about this event, please click here. https://fb.me/e/HirPO2qc
- Our fellows from 2020 continue to progress in their social justice projects. Please see a few of the photos below, part of Elibet Valencia-Muñoz’ video and photographic documentary of a traditional Mixteco Dance “La Danza de los Diablos.” Your support is essential to helping these emerging leaders create change in Ventura County and continuing to hone their leadership skills. We will also be providing our fellows with community organizing training, which will be a key component to their project’s sustainability and creating change in our community. Your contributions make our efforts and our fellows’ success possible!
Here is some of Elibet’s work:
With much gratitude,
| Michael Teasdale,
Chair, |
Rabiah Rahman
Vice Chair, |
Martita Martinez-Bravo, PsyD
Executive Director, |