End Child Poverty CA

09/02/2026

🔥 BIG WINS FOR EATON FIRE SURVIVORS! 🔥
We’re celebrating a major step forward for Dena Rise Up! 💪
💵 $15 MILLION for the CARE Fund was included in the state budget to support homeowner rebuilding gap financing, community land acquisition, nonprofit & Community Land Trust partnerships, and survivor oversight.
And there’s more! 🎉
Three of our priority bills are headed to the Governor’s desk, bringing meaningful protections and accountability for wildfire survivors:
🏡 AB 1642: Establishes standards for investigating, testing, and clearing lead and asbestos contamination after wildfires.
💰 SB 878: Holds insurers accountable for claim delays and requires timely payment of total-loss home claims.
🛡️ SB 1301: Gives homeowners 6 months’ notice and specific reasons before an insurance non-renewal, providing time to make necessary repairs and maintain coverage.
These victories show what happens when fire survivors ORGANIZE, SPEAK UP, and FIGHT for a recovery that works for everyone.
The Eaton Fire in January 2025 devastated the historically Black community of Altadena, as well as much of Pasadena. Inequitable emergency warnings and huge rebuilding hurdles have led to ongoing devastation. As the Dena Rise Up Coalition affirms, “We who live, work and serve in Altadena and Pasadena are committed to an Eaton Fire reconstruction that is just and inclusive for everyone.”
We’re not done yet. Next stop: the Governor’s desk. ✍️🔥

08/29/2026

💥 One more win for California families!
AB 2395 is on its way to the Governor’s desk. 🎉
So, what does this bill do?
It helps make California’s Child Support Debt Reduction Program more consistent, accessible, and effective; clearing away barriers that can keep families from getting the relief they need.
Because getting out of debt shouldn’t feel like an impossible climb. Families deserve a real path forward.

👏 Huge thanks to Assemblymember and the Truth and Justice in Child Support Coalition for championing this important change.
We’re not done yet. Let’s get AB 2395 across the finish line! 🏁

08/29/2026

🎉 SB 1077 (Gonzalez) is heading to the Governor’s desk!
We’re celebrating this important step forward for California families. 💙
Championed by Senator Lena A. Gonzalez, SB 1077 strengthens California’s ability to protect families during times of uncertainty by requiring the California Department of Social Services (CDSS) to develop a federal shutdown response and communication plan and build the infrastructure needed to keep benefits flowing during a federal government shutdown.
At a time when families are facing growing economic challenges, SB 1077 helps safeguard stability, continuity, and dignity when they need it most.
👏 Thank you, Senator Lena A. Gonzalez, for championing this critical effort to protect Californians. We’re proud to stand with families and excited to see this bill continue moving forward!
When the federal government stalls, California families shouldn’t have to.

08/29/2026

🏘️ It really does take a village. And California is investing in one.

🎉We’re celebrating AB 1969, the It Takes a Village Act, heading to the Governor’s desk!
When families are trying to navigate rising costs, uncertainty, and a maze of services, they shouldn’t have to figure it all out alone.
AB 1969 strengthens local Cradle to Career networks so communities can connect children and families with the resources they need to thrive: from child care and education to health care, food, and beyond.
For more than a decade, Promise Neighborhoods and C2C partnerships have shown what’s possible when support is rooted in community and services work together.
And for immigrant families, trusted community-based organizations can be a critical bridge to essential resources especially during times of uncertainty.
This is about more than programs. It’s about building communities where families have people, places, and pathways they can count on.

👏🏽 Thank you to Assemblymember and the advocates, partners, and community leaders helping make sure every child and family has a village behind them.

08/20/2026

08/13/2026

Monday's press conference on the steps of the Capitol saw dozens of anti-hunger advocates pleading with state budget leaders to protect vulnerable families from the H.R. 1 hunger crisis by increasing state-level food assistance. As Dolores Huerta said, "The kind of requirements that [Trump & Congress] are putting on these programs are going to affect the very people that feed us." It's time for California to step up.

08/11/2026

Dolores Huerta, Civil Rights pioneer
“Now is the time for our legislature to step up.”
Yesterday at the California State Capitol, civil rights icon Dolores Huerta joined advocates, elected leaders, and impacted Californians to demand action against cuts that strip food from children and elders.
Her message to California leaders was clear: protect the people who need these programs most.
No child should be left hungry. People with disabilities should not lose access to food or medical assistance because they cannot meet burdensome work requirements. And California should use the resources it already has to protect families from hunger.
As Dolores reminded us:
“There is no excuse why these programs should not be fully funded.”
California has a long history of choosing to build a stronger safety net. Now is the time to uphold that commitment and ensure that every child, family, immigrant, foster youth, older adult, and person with a disability can access the food and support they need.
California leaders: it’s time to step up.

08/11/2026

Bayley Craig, former foster youth and CalFresh recipient, MSW candidate at Sacramento State University, and Foster Youth advocate at John Burton Advocates for Youth
Food security is about more than food. It’s about stability, opportunity, and a future.
At today’s anti-hunger press conference, Bayley Craig, former foster youth and CalFresh recipient, MSW candidate at Sacramento State University, and Foster Youth advocate at John Burton Advocates for Youth, called on California leaders to stand up for people who too often lack the resources or platform to advocate for themselves.
Bayley shared a vision for a California that invests in its children, families, foster youth, veterans, older adults, immigrants, and everyone struggling to make ends meet.
When people have reliable access to food, they have the stability to focus on school, care for their families, find employment, and build a better future.
And Bayley left state leaders with a powerful reminder:
“Our voices are stronger when we use them together.”
Now is the time to listen to communities too often overlooked and make sure their voices are heard at our state Capitol.

08/11/2026

At yesterday’s anti-hunger press conference, Koy Saeteurn, Legislative Advocate with the Coalition of California Welfare Rights Organizations, brought the human cost of food assistance cuts into focus.
Half of the 49,000 families at risk include children, seniors, or people with disabilities. And Koy reminded us that these families are not statistics; they are our neighbors, our communities, and, as she shared, “They’re me. They’re my family.”
Refugee and immigrant families are too often the first asked to sacrifice when the safety net is weakened. But when we stand together, we can change that.
Because at the end of the day, hunger is not a policy debate. It’s a child going to bed hungry in the richest state.
California must choose to protect its families and ensure everyone has access to the food they need.

08/11/2026

California has a choice: protect our safety net or let families go hungry.
At yesterday’s anti-hunger press conference at the California State Capitol, Benyamin Chao, Supervising Health & Public Benefits Policy Manager at the California Immigrant Policy Center, reminded us that other states have already stepped up to protect humanitarian immigrants from losing food assistance.
“They saw the need and they took the needed steps to avoid a hunger crisis.”
Benyamin reflected on 1996, when federal welfare reform created barriers that stripped many immigrants of food assistance. California chose a different path: building a stronger, more inclusive safety net and refusing to let Washington determine who deserves enough to eat.
Now, 30 years later, California faces another defining moment.
“Will we look back and be proud of how our state responded?”
State leaders can act now to protect humanitarian immigrants, families with children, and foster youth from going hungry.