2023 Community Organization: California Farmworker Foundation

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Biography

The California Farmworker Foundation, also known as CFF, was formed to offer and create opportunities that would enable Farmworkers that reside in California to develop personal and professional skills. We have five areas in which we model our services: Education, Health & Wellness, Workforce Development, Immigration Services, and Community Engagement.

Impact

The Central Valley Farmworker Foundation was established in 2016 with a goal of giving back to the farmworkers in the Central Valley and empowering farmworkers to have a say in their communities. In 2019, CVFF changed its name to the California Farmworker Foundation (CFF) to meet the needs of farmworkers across the state. Today, CFF is committed to DE&I by providing concrete solutions for community-wide issues in historically underserved populations including housing crises, food insecurity, and healthcare. They empower individuals to become advocates for themselves and their communities, promoting education and wellness in the farm-working industry. CFF also takes pride in offering all programs and services rendered free of charge to all farmworkers and farm-working communities.

CFF’s five pillars drive their work: education, workforce development, health & wellness, immigration services, and community engagement. These five pillars enable the foundation to build healthy and sustainable farmworker communities throughout California:

  1. Education: CFF believes education is the gateway to a free, healthy, fair, and prosperous society. Their educational programs focus on English as a second language, financial literacy, women’s empowerment, technology classes, parenting classes, personal development, and educational scholarships.
  2. Workforce development: CFF strengthens the capabilities and abilities of farmworkers to improve their quality of life. Their workforce development programs focus on career pathways, internships, leadership development, job training, and professional development.
  3. Health & wellness: CFF works every day to design and implement programs, models, and tools that help close the gap in health and thus benefit the populations that need it the most. Their health & wellness programs focus on health education, food distribution, health services, health fairs, diabetes prevention, mental health, and physical activity.
  4. Immigration services: CFF works in alliances with social and academic organizations, as well as the Mexican consulate, to offer free services on issues of interest to migrant farmworkers. Their immigration services programs focus on citizenship, DACA, human rights, immigration clinics, know your rights education, and legal consultations.
  5. Community engagement: CFF works together to safeguard the future. Their community engagement programs include farmworkers leadership development, policy advocacy, voter registration, voter education, and community advocacy.