American Rescue Plan did more than save lives. It fueled Latino grassroots activism | Opinion

This Saturday marks the two-year anniversary of the signing of the American Rescue Plan, President Biden’s $1.9 trillion piece of legislation intended to help communities recover from COVID-19. As we approach this anniversary, Latino communities across California are well on the path to recovery.

Despite disproportionate case and fatality rates from COVID, Latinos gained greater access to life-saving vaccines. When the economy came to a halt and wages and work were lost, critical rental assistance helped stave off evictions. And when families struggled to provide for their children, expanded tax credits gave them a necessary boost, leading to a precipitous drop in Latino child poverty over the last two years.

Regardless of the political rhetoric that the American Rescue Plan was the primary driver of inflation, it was actually vital for Latino families across the state.

Now, nearly two years into this historic infusion of federal dollars, it is also worth pointing out another powerful outcome from the American Rescue Plan: Local Latino residents saw an opportunity to play an important role in the reimagination and redesign of their communities.

Hope became the call to action, and not just an elusive dream.

This is because the American Rescue Plan provided $16 billion in flexible funding to California localities.

In Los Angeles, the Immigrants are Los Angeles Campaign, a coalition of more than 90 immigrant rights and services organizations in the county, successfully pressured the county board of supervisors to provide $30 million to immigrant residents for items like food assistance and legal services.

In the city of Mountain View, situated in the heart of Silicon Valley, a group of immigrant Latina mothers advocated for direct financial assistance for their neighbors in greatest need. Forming the Mountain View Solidarity Fund, their local city council entrusted them to distribute nearly $2 million of American Rescue Plan resources because of their knowledge and respect in the community.

In places like Half Moon Bay, home to the recent mass shooting of seven farm workers, local government and community came together to approve nearly $1 million in American Rescue Plan funds to offer to house to the farm worker families affected by this tragedy.

Altogether, grassroots Latino leaders across California leveraged hundreds of millions of American Rescue Plan dollars to fund community priorities. That’s why the Latino Community Foundation last April invested $1.4 million in 35 Latino-led nonprofit organizations to advocate for and implement the equitable distribution of these federal investments.

According to Brookings, approximately one-third of local American Rescue Plan funds are unallocated and still eligible for use. With California ending its COVID state of emergency, the remaining opportunities to uplift Latino communities are as innumerable as they are urgent to address. From mental health support to affordable housing and job training, Latino leaders have waited for this moment to activate and resource the long-term visions for their communities.

As localities across the nation begin to sunset the use of American Rescue Plan dollars by 2024, more grassroots leadership is needed to ensure the equitable use of these resources. For the sake of our recovery, we must tap into their renewed spirit to make our communities stronger again.