Thirty-one Latino organizations receive grant funding

The Cultivating Inland Empire Latino Opportunity, or, CIELO Fund at the Inland Empire Community Foundation (IECF) announced last week 31 Inland Empire Latino-led and serving organizations have been awarded grant funds totaling $360,000.

“We are proud to continue uplifting and investing in Latino community game-changers who are making immeasurable contributions to our region each and every day,” said Jesse Melgar, IECF Vice Chair and CIELO Fund Founding Chair. “This round of grantees embody the best of the Inland Empire – innovators who do all they can to provide critical services and resources to those most in need. We are inspired by these groups who make our neighborhoods, our communities and our region better.”

Latinos are now the majority of the Inland Empire, making up 51.5% of the population. Projections by the USC Center for Latinx Studies show that that number is expected to balloon to 74% by 2060.

Grant funding was prioritized for organizations working in the following areas: leadership development & capacity building, economic mobility, educational equity, health equity, housing security, environmental equity & climate change, racial equity and immigrant inclusion. Grants were also awarded to local and regional media outlets and projects aiming to uplift positive narratives with impact about the Latino community in the Inland Empire.

The 2024 CIELO Fund grantees are:

• Asociación de Emprendedo@s
• Canyon Children’s Legal Services
• Casa Blanca Home of Neighborly Services
• Centro del Inmigrante
• Chicano Latino Alumni Association of UC Riverside
• Civil Rights Institute of Inland Southern California
• Ezekiel’s Gift of Love Coachella Valley
• Frontline Observer
• Garcia Center for the Arts
• Get in Motion Entrepreneurs
• Happier Life Project
• Herencia Mariachi Academy
• HIghlanders Boxing Club
• Hispanic Coalition of Small Businesses
• Huerta Del Valle
• IE Community News
• Inland Empire Latino Lawyers Association
• Inland Empire Future Leaders Program
• Inland Empire Immigrant Youth Collective
• Inland Equity Community Land Trust
• Ives Torres Foundation – Corona
• KVCR IE Latino Voices
• Latino Media Collaborative
• Latino Network
• League of United Latin American Citizens LULAC Riverside
• Organización de Líderes Campesinas
• San Bernardino Home of Neighborly Services
• Spanish Town Heritage
• The Key Nonprofit
• Unidos Por La Musica
• We Are One United

For more information or to donate to the CIELO Fund, visit www.iegives.org/cielofund