Support our work

The majority of our day-to-day resources support families directly and sustain the operations necessary to make that support possible. Contributions help us provide individualized family support, maintain our community despensa, assist with transportation and essential expenses, connect families with legal and other trusted resources, organize community gatherings, share reliable information, and maintain the infrastructure behind our broader community initiatives.

VC Defensa is volunteer-powered. Our organizers and community members are not salaried for this work. At the same time, doing this work comes with real costs. We purchase our own outreach and educational materials, supplies for community activities and distributions, food and essentials for our despensa, and other materials needed to respond to families. Because community needs can change quickly, general support gives VC Defensa the flexibility to put resources where they are needed most—whether that means helping a family stay housed, filling our despensa, getting someone where they need to go, printing materials for outreach, securing a space for the community to gather, or covering the everyday costs that allow our volunteers to keep showing up.

Family support

Individualized support for families impacted by immigration enforcement.

The impact of detention and deportation does not end after the initial crisis. Families may experience changes in income, housing stability, transportation, food access, childcare, legal needs, healthcare, and other everyday responsibilities. VC Defensa works directly with impacted families to develop individualized support plans based on each family’s circumstances, priorities, and changing needs. Support may include assistance with rent and essential expenses, transportation, access to attorneys and legal resources, food and household necessities through our community despensa, healthcare and mental health connections, resource navigation, and other identified needs. When trusted services already exist in the community, we help families access them rather than unnecessarily duplicating resources. When gaps remain, we work alongside families to determine how VC Defensa and our broader community network can help. Our support is not limited to a single payment, referral, or interaction. We remain connected to families and adjust support as circumstances change. Support families and sustain this work. Contributions to VC Defensa help fund individualized family support and the day-to-day operations that make this work possible.

Salud para el Pueblo

Barrier-free healthcare that can reach people where they are.

Salud para el Pueblo expands access to routine and non-emergency medical support for immigrant families experiencing barriers to traditional healthcare and provides accessible mental health support from providers who understand the context our communities are navigating. Through an expanding home-visit model, qualified medical professionals can provide appropriate assessment and support within their professional scope and connect individuals with additional care when needed. Support may include common illnesses, minor injuries, follow-up needs, chronic health concerns, prescription access, mental health, and other non-emergency health needs. Funding helps replenish medical and first-aid supplies, support prescription costs, and strengthen the infrastructure necessary to expand home visits. Doctor Defensa does not replace primary, emergency, or hospital care. Medical emergencies are directed to 911 or the appropriate emergency services. Care should be able to reach people, even when people cannot reach care.

Vecinos Defensa

Comité Red de Apoyo para los Inquilinos

Free tenant education, support, and organizing led by the belief that housing problems should not have to be faced alone. Vecinos Defensa supports renters navigating concerns such as rent increases, repairs, utilities, housing conditions, and uncertainty about their rights or available options. The initiative provides barrier-free tenant education, organizing support, community spaces, and connections to trusted specialized resources when needed. Beyond addressing individual concerns, Vecinos Defensa creates opportunities for tenants experiencing similar issues to find one another, build relationships, develop leadership, and organize collectively. Our long-term goal is not simply to help tenants navigate problems. It is to strengthen the ability of neighbors to advocate for themselves and one another.

Educators Against ICE

Helping families understand and access the educational resources available to their children.

Educators Against ICE connects families with educators, information, advocacy support, and trusted resources to make school systems easier to navigate. As the initiative develops, it can also help families identify school and community resources they may not know are available, prepare for educational meetings, ask informed questions, and better understand their rights and options. The goal is not to speak for parents. It is to make information more accessible so families are better equipped to advocate for their children themselves.

Artists Against ICE

Community art and media that makes information, organizing, and our communities’ stories accessible wherever people are.

Artists Against ICE brings together artists and media makers to document and share what is happening across our communities through photography, video, design, public art, digital media, and other forms of creative expression. This work creates an accessible way to reach people who may never attend a meeting or seek out an organization. Art and information can live on the street, at community gatherings, across social media, and anywhere people already are. Artists Against ICE also documents the everyday work that is often left out of broader narratives about immigrant communities: neighbors feeding families, supporting loved ones, organizing resources, sharing information, providing care, and standing alongside one another. Through this work, communities can participate in creating their own public record rather than leaving their experiences to be defined entirely by others.

Community Hubs

Existing community relationships, strengthened through trusted information, resources, and opportunities to gather.

Our communities have always shared information, cared for one another, and organized around common needs. VC Defensa did not create those relationships. Our Community Hubs help bring greater organization, trusted information, and resources into networks that already exist naturally among neighbors. Today, WhatsApp groups serve as accessible hubs for immigration-related information, Know Your Rights resources, political education, community events, mutual aid, and support. They also provide a direct way to connect large numbers of residents with healthcare, mental health, housing, education, arts, family support, and other opportunities throughout the community. VC Defensa also seeks to expand in-person community gatherings, creating welcoming opportunities for neighbors and families to share food, participate in activities, access resources, learn together, and simply build relationships outside of moments of crisis. These networks are bigger than any one organization or issue. Today, immigration may be what brings thousands of people into the same space. Tomorrow, those same relationships may help communities respond to housing, education, healthcare, youth needs, local issues, or priorities we cannot yet anticipate.