$30,000 / 2014
East Palo Alto, CA
Annie Loya, Executive Director
Website: www.youthunited.net
This $30,000 renewal grant will assist YUCA in providing a safe space to develop and support a core of young people in East Palo Alto to organize on environmental, economic justice and immigrant rights issues in East Palo Alto, CA. Over the next year, YUCA will organize to include community input around issues of housing, employment and environmental justice in current City planning. YUCA is also organizing young people to stop the unfair practice of ICE holds on juveniles in nearby San Mateo County, creating economic opportunities for undocumented youth, and supporting the larger national, statewide, and regional efforts for immigrant rights. Last year, YUCA involved over 150 new East Palo Alto youth in YUCA trainings and campaigns and included more community groups in its land use campaign. YUCA and community allies successfully won interim controls for 22 months that could slow or prevent developers from displacing long-time residents. YUCA has also partnered with Community Legal Services in East Palo Alto to develop an Applied Legal Toolkit to identify barriers to promoting equity in affordable housing in East Palo Alto. YUCA is an active participant in the Empower, Transform and Build East Palo Alto Coalition, the San Mateo County Coalition for Immigrant Rights, and the California Table.