For some of the students the office serves, it was a life-changing opportunity.

“We’re incredibly grateful for the grant,” said Summer Steele, Executive Director of the Office of Pre-College Programs. “We were impacted by the Department of Education when they defunded some programs last summer.”

One of those programs was CSUSB’s High School Equivalency Program, which offers instruction and wraparound support for adults who are migrant, seasonal farm workers who did not complete their high school diploma or GED or High School Equivalency Test (HISET).

“We had a great cohort of students who were doing phenomenal,” Steele added. “Some of them graduated and received their HISET and their High School Equivalency Diploma. But there were several who were two or three tests away from actually completing everything and having their high school equivalency when the notice came that our program was going to be defunded.”

Suddenly, the office found itself searching for other options.

“We were so close, and the students were so close to the finish line,” Steele said. “We asked ourselves what we could do to support the students who were currently in our course. A former director, and also the current director of the camp, actually spent his evenings and weekends online, still providing instruction. He did this on his own because all the staff was let go.”

At that critical juncture, providing volunteer instruction for the students and staying in contact created a powerful ripple effect. When the IECF grant opportunity became available, Steele and the team believed it was the perfect opportunity to hire a success coach, who would then continue following that small cohort of students and provide them with the resources they needed to complete the program and receive the high school equivalency.

That included supplying such things as testing fees and supplies.

“We’re excited to continue serving those students, because there’s nothing worse than seeing so much progress than having the doors closed on your kids,” Steele said.

Moving through those hurdles mark another milestone for the Office of Pre-College Programs, which offers nine different and dynamic programs. Its services reach more than 5,000 students from San Bernardino, Rialto, and Colton Joint Unified School districts as well as students in the Coachella Valley.

These programs are designed to assists participants and their families with educational and personal support services with a goal of increasing high school graduation, college enrollment, persistence, and college completion.

Combined, the services encompass everything from academic tutoring to personal and leadership development, and many things beyond and in between.

“The entire purpose of the pre-college programs is to help folks get connected to higher education,” Steele said. “And it doesn’t have to be Cal State San Bernardino. It could be a community college. It could be trade school. We just want to provide those resources.”

“We have 14 different projects that work throughout the Inland Empire,” she added. “Programs like The Federal TRIO Programs, which includes something like the Upward Bound Program. Other projects help us work through the California Student Aid Commission to make sure students are getting their financial aid applications and their Dream Act application submitted.”

Other programs work specifically in key areas such as foster youth, increasing enrollment, increasing math and English fluency, and the College Corps program, which centers around community service.

The latter finds students required to complete 450 hours of community service in exchange for up to $10,000 living allowance and educational benefit/reward at the end.

“We remain committed to providing equitable access to folks throughout the region,” Steele said “If someone wants to obtain a higher education, regardless of their status, regardless of age, regardless of ability, there’s no reason why they should not be able to reach those goals.

“We want to do whatever is in our power to help students,” she added.

This story originally appeared in the Press Enterprise, March, 2026.

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“This will lead into our annual Affordable Housing Mixer with affordable developers, and investors and private investors, as well as local cities, where there’s opportunities to make connections across county lines,” Steele added. “It’s wonderful to see developers and city leaders meet each other and understand their needs for different projects. This helps all of us.”

The event is one of many standout initiatives playing out underneath the ISHC umbrella. A recent grant from Inland Empire Community Foundation (IECF) through their Community Impact Fund is yet another opportunity for ISHC to expand its impact and reach.

“The grant helped us expand across all our working pillars,” Steele said. “The Collective has four pillars, but there are three foundational ones where we look at for policies.”

There’s the Educate and Advocate for Public Policy pillar, which organizes and strives to gain public will and political support for region-specific housing policies and solutions related to such things as zoning changes, A.D.U./ancillary units, enforcement of SB 35-inclusionary units, workforce housing, and more.

Educating individuals on the housing landscape, market trends, and housing platforms also factors into the mix.

“That pillar can be improved to expand ways to produce affordable housing and attract funding to our region,” Steele added.

Wealth Building and Preservation is another pillar.

“We look at what wealth-building tools exist here to ensure that generational wealth is being created as well as preserved,” Steele said. “Banking and first-loan access falls into that.”

The Expansion of Housing Solutions stands out in the ways it explores the innovative solutions for housing that exist and how the organization and the community can learn from it.

“The IECF grant allows us to be driven in these working groups, not just for us as an organization but for the area and the people,” Steele said. “The grant helps us build out in that way so we can be more committed, do the research, and create thoughtful agendas, invite in speakers, and facilitate the working pillars to really move these strategies.

“It builds our capacity to put things into action for both San Bernardino and Riverside County,” she added.

Another organizational pillar that is active year-round is ISHC’s Increasing Regional Involvement pillar. It strives to create a unified voice on housing solutions in the area and identify marketing strategies to attract and leverage new kinds of funding and investments.

Membership acts as a kind of collective change agent, establishing a united front fully committed to enhancing the region’s reputation.

“Collectively, especially with just general housing, it’s so vast,” Steele said. “Therefore, we look at anything from shelters and emergency shelters to building market rate housing and everything in between.”

Steele is enthusiastic about the road ahead and ISHC’s ongoing mission to “advance collaborative strategies and present innovative solutions to create and preserve safe, decent, and affordable housing in the Inland SoCal region.”

“Every voice is needed in our space,” she said. “You don’t have to be a developer or a non-profit housing service provider, or someone that’s part of the community care. It’s more than that.

“The organization has folks from different foundations—from healthcare, education, cities, transportation—that are a part of the change,” she added. “There’s real value of working together. Everybody can have a voice here. Everybody can contribute.”

This story originally appeared in the Press Enterprise, February, 2026.

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There’s more than a hint of pride in Sandy Ramirez’s voice when she speaks of Riverside Life Services. The nonprofit’s executive director wants to ensure individuals feel supported in their pregnancy decisions and that everybody has the tools they need to move forward with confidence.

“All of our services to the community are at no charge,” Ramirez shared. “That’s all of our pregnancy tests, our ultrasounds, our material goods, such as diapers, the boutique and clothes we have available, and more. Every dollar we get goes straight into our patient services.”

Which makes everything from grant funding and donations a well-needed bonus for the nonprofit. To that end, Ramirez expressed gratitude for a recent grant the nonprofit received from Inland Empire Community Foundation, which will support several offerings.

Some of those include pregnancy services, such as pregnancy confirmation, as well as counseling and mentorship. Funding also supports education programs, such as an “earn while you learn” component—for every class an individual takes at the nonprofit, they can then shop in the organization’s Baby Boutique, “earning” such things as clothes, diapers, wipes, equipment, and other items.

Other standout classes include Newborn and Postpartum Care, which provides information on the first 40 days after giving birth, and why that determines how well and how quickly somebody recovers from the experience. Postpartum depression and new baby care are also covered in this class.

Support groups also filter into the mix. With an emphasis on community, the nonprofit offers individualized monthly groups for women experience a broad range of issues—from healing from miscarriages or challenges with breastfeeding to post-abortion support. 

A monthly support group designed specifically for fathers, Dads for Life, further showcases the organization’s commitment to the individual’s well-being. The nonprofit also offers referrals to other community resources if needed. 

“I just love our goal and mission of loving and encouraging moms, families, and babies,” Ramirez added.

Riverside Life Services was founded more than 50 years ago by several women hoping to create a safe haven that assisted women in their pregnancy. The idea was to hold space for women to feel “loved, cherished, and respected.” Five decades later, the organization stands out in the region, and is often praised for the mindful ways it assists women with life planning and moving through life’s “unexpected” twists.

Looking ahead, Ramirez wants people to know that the nonprofit happily takes donations.

“We’d love for people to donate gently used maternity clothes and baby clothes,” she said. “A lot of places that families would go to to donate those items would later be resold, and we don’t do that. All of our donations—what we call material goods, such as maternity clothes and baby clothes up to age 2—we make available for moms and families in our community.“Those are free,” she added. “So anytime anybody gives away baby clothes or baby items, we would love for them to consider us.”

Learn more about Riverside Life Services at riversidelifeservices.org

This story originally appeared in the Press Enterprise, July 2025.

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Justness and community are important to Cynthia H. Breunig,

“We’re all about female equity and female empowerment,” Breunig said of the Girl Scouts. “That’s our thing and has been for 113 years.”

A recent grant from Inland Empire Community Foundation has buoyed the organization’s efforts, helping with general operation expenses and its focus on several vital issues.

“We have different regions, they’re called councils, and each is a separate 501c3,” Breunig said. “We reflect the interests and challenges in each of our communities. The focus here—all over Riverside and most of San Bernardino—is about the wage inequity between males and females, especially in the Inland Empire.”

“Women in Vermont have probably the closest disparity at .89 cents for every dollar for a white male,” she added. “In the Inland Empire, it’s.75 cents for Black women, and for Hispanics, it’s.51 cents. About two-thirds of the low-paying California jobs are in our region.”

These issues are “top of mind” for Breunig and the San Gorgonio arm of Girl Scouts, and while she is quick to say that the organization can be “all hearts and rainbows and lots of little girls and cookies,” there’s something deeper running beneath the surface.

“The underpinnings of all those things have to do with financial literacy, which is a huge thing for us,” she said. “The cookie sale is one of the most successful in the country because so many people participate. But what you may or may not know is that all that money stays in the local economy and regrows this year. It was about $12 million in this local council.”

About 5 percent of that cookie sale is overhead. The rest goes into the girls. 

“This would be girls’ programming and such,” Breunig said. “It goes back to their troops. They’re traveling the world—it goes back to the individual girls so that they can pay for camp and other things like college applications, driver’s education, Letterman jackets, and the whole senior package. 

“It really helps the girls in our community,” she added. “That’s the pay and equity part. The whole cookie sale is set up so that the girls are learning how to run their own businesses.”

Breunig became President and CEO of the organization in 2011. She is a proud Gold Award Girl Scout and quickly credits Girl Scouts with shaping her leadership and business skills. Over the years, she’s been impressed with the impact the organization makes.

She also points out the many famous women who were Girl Scouts, such as American labor leader and feminist activist Dolores Huerta, now 95, who has been a big advocate for Girl Scouts. 

“She said to us that she was a shy little girl and that she found her voice in Girl Scouts,” Breunig added. “And every [female] secretary of state was a Girl Scout. And 90 percent of [female] astronauts were Girl Scouts, and 80 percent of all of our tech leadership.”

Other “famous” Girl Scouts include: Lucille Ball, Katie Couric, Martha Stewart, Venus Williams, and Queen Elizabeth II.

When asked why the organization may be more relevant now than ever before, particularly in an era of extreme political shifts, Breunig is candid:  “It has a lot to do with neighborhoods and communities and participation.”

This links together families and neighborhoods around projects that the girls are working on. 

“Community service has been our thing for the full span of 113 years,” she added. “One example is during the Suffragette Movement and the Right to Vote endeavors—one of the reasons that you don’t see a lot of kids in those photographs of the ladies marching is because Girl Scouts organized nationally to babysit. So, we’re participating at all levels.”

Meanwhile, if there’s a credo that keeps these creative troops motivated, it comes from a reputable source.

“The Brookings Institute says, ‘If you want to change the world, invest in girls,’” Breunig said. “And that’s where we stand.”

Learn more about Girl Scouts of San Gorgonio at gssgc.org.

This story originally appeared in the Press Enterprise, July 2025.

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As a recipient of grants from the ARPA Fund (American Rescue Plan Act) through Inland Empire Community Foundation, Inland Caregiver Resource Center (ICRC) made strides with increasing referrals and outreach efforts to underserved communities in Riverside County.

“After the pandemic, people were still kind of reluctant to come out, especially our clients, caregivers, and older adults,” said Carmen Estrada, Executive Director of ICRC. “A lot of our caregivers are still wary of being out too much because of whatever they may bring back to the person that they’re caring for. 

“Trying to get them to transition to start doing in-person services was a bit of a challenge,” she added.

That required enhanced outreach efforts from ICRC, which resulted in hiring an additional intake specialist and education outreach coordinator.

“We were happy to offer more outreach activities, and additional face-to-face services, as well as virtual efforts to get people connected to our services, particularly our mental health services and caregiver support services,” Estrada said. “That allowed us to expand our mental health services.”

To that end, the organization has two key programs: Pearl’s Program, which encourages active and rewarding lives of seniors, and Thrive, which is a cognitive behavioral therapy program for older adults experiencing later-life depression.

“When the grant started, we were only providing those services in Riverside County,” Estrada noted. “The grant allowed us to provide more of those services agency-wide. Because they’ve been successful, we are now able to expand those programs in San Bernardino County.”

Pearls is an evidence-based approach created to reduce depressive symptoms and improve the quality of life for seniors. The program enables older adults to establish long-term changes that allow them to enjoy a more active and rewarding life.

Meanwhile, the Thrive program uses cognitive behavioral therapy to help reduce depressive symptoms and improve overall quality of life. Another evidence-based approach, it offers older adults the ability to focus on long-term changes in which they can “thrive.”

Behavioral health matters have come to the fore in the last decade, and Estrada believes ICRC is meeting those challenges head-on.

“When it comes to mental health, people don’t want to say ‘depression,’ so we have to do outreach in more creative ways, and talk about feelings,” she said. “You know, things like, ‘Are you feeling isolated? Are you not going out as much? Do you not like doing things you used to do before?”

“Because there’s still that stigma with mental health,” she added.

The organization also changed its brochures, updated marketing material, and retrained staff to steer away from using the term “mental health,” replacing it with “behavioral health.”

“It’s a more friendly term,” Estrada said. “And it’s better accepted in the community when we’re talking about behavioral health and social support services instead of mental health, depression, and anxiety—all the terms that people, our older adults and our caregivers, connect to and once had been thought of as ‘crazy’ or ‘senile.’”

Estrada noted the importance of being creative and understanding their audience and their needs. 

Support for the entire family is key; however, ICRC is keen on encouraging caregivers who care for seniors, veterans, individuals with disabilities, and those who can no longer care for themselves.

“We make it a point to make sure we train our staff to meet clients where they’re at, and also to consider past traumas that clients may have experienced,” Estrada said. “And to be kind.”

Learn more at inlandcaregivers.org.

This story originally appeared in the Press Enterprise, May 2025.

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When Kristi Perez discusses the journey of former foster youth transitioning out of Childcare Welfare Services, her unwavering determination shines through. 

The founder and executive director of Inspire Life Skills Training, a nonprofit organization that strives to halt the cycle of abuse and poverty through education, stable housing, education, and the mentorship of foster and homeless youth, quickly points to the statistics: that 50 percent of these individuals face homelessness within five years.

“Twenty years ago, when I decided to launch the organization, I kept hearing about foster kids,” Perez said. “Back then, they all were automatically kicked out at 18 or by their high school graduation. There was no extended foster care or any other programs that were focusing on education.

“When I looked at the statistics—back then I think it was 2 percent of foster kids were graduating college and barely any of them were even trying to go—I thought, ‘Well no wonder the cycle kind of tends to repeat itself,’” she added.

Other factors further illuminate the issue. 

Perez says that statistically, by age 25, half of former foster youth are unemployed. About four percent obtain a bachelor’s degree. These realities may seem ominous, and they perpetuate what Life Skills Training says is “generational poverty, abuse, and homelessness.” 

Overturning these trends is where Perez and her team come in. 

Thanks to a recent grant from the Women’s Giving Fund at the Inland Empire Community Foundation, the nonprofit was able to broaden its impact, assisting these vulnerable youth.

“We provide housing for these youth as they age out,” Perez said. “When they leave foster care, they’re under what’s called Extended Foster Care, and they can come to our house. The grant helps us with a larger home we just opened in Corona. We’re going to be taking in double the girls. The resources will help us with programming.”

To that end, the nonprofit offers various life skills classes, college or vocational guidance, mentorship, and professional counseling. Requirements for these youth include: 18-22 years old; willingness to reside in the Inland Empire area; GED or high school diploma; and an interest in attending school full-time and working part-time.

Another key program is Inspired Scholars. This provides former foster youth attending a four-year university to receive monthly stipends and professional life coaching. Requirements include: 18-28 years old; accepted or enrolled in a four-year university; and an interest in attending school full-time.

Perez says the program assists with helping individuals “reach the finish line” to get their degree.

“I want people to know that foster kids are not bad kids,” she added. “They didn’t do anything wrong. It was their parents who, for whatever reason, didn’t have the capacity to be healthy. These young men and women deserve a chance to become educated, learn life skills, learn how to have a job—all the things that we want our kids to learn.”

The nonprofit encourages the public to get involved, too.

The Volunteer Program, for instance, offers opportunities to join a service committee, serve on our executive board, mentor students, or attend the annual fundraising gala. 

To that end, the nonprofit is already planning its annual Make a Difference Gala for 2025, which takes place Sept. 13 at the Victoria Club in Riverside. This year marks a 20th anniversary milestone where donors and business leaders converge to raise vital funding for the nonprofit.

“There’s something special in watching these youth realize that they can have a completely different future than what they witnessed in their family of origin,” Perez said. “I remember sitting across from a girl who was graduating and moving out of one of our houses, and she just started crying. She said, ‘I’d probably be like a single mom with two babies and like homeless right now if it wasn’t for Inspire.'”

“I looked at her and told her, ‘No, you wouldn’t because you’re a strong woman,’” she added. “She went on to tell that she didn’t know where she would be without the safety net of having the house and being able to focus on school and having a mentor. Seeing these youth come into their own is powerful.”

Learn more about Inspire Life Skills Training at inspirelifeskills.org.

This story originally appeared in the Press Enterprise, May 2025.

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Citrus Counseling Services Staff

The James Bernard and Mildred Jordan Tucker Fund through the Inland Empire Community Foundation will positively impact the endeavors of one San Bernardino County nonprofit.

Thanks to the recent grant, Citrus Counseling Services will be able to use the funding to install a much-needed ADA ramp in its facility.

“The grant is incredibly vital,” said Citrus Counseling Services Chief Executive Officer Roger Uminksi. “Getting funding to cover all the things we need is generally pretty tight. We’re basically in the healthcare business, and we serve an underserved community that is not very high in the socioeconomic scale.”

“We often get the minimum rates that you can get from public-funded programs, and they cover just enough to provide the direct services,” he added. “There’s no margin available for us to do things like investing in our facilities, investing in upgrades, doing additional things like information technology, and so on. So, anything that we can get that helps, and makes the environment so much better for the clients that we serve.”

The nonprofit’s history is key to understanding how it operates today.

Citrus Counseling Services was founded as a Christian counseling service back in 1978 in Redlands. It emerged from the Redlands Area Interfaith Council.

“Originally, it was designed to provide higher-level pastoral care to members of the community here,” Uminski said. “I believe it was five local pastors, but it didn’t take long for them to find out that there was a much bigger need in behavioral health.”

In 1978, combining behavioral health and physical health became a unique protocol.

“Now we just call that cultural competency,” Uminski added. “Everybody should be good at doing that.”

Today, the organization has three locations, which occurred after merging with the Family Service Agency of San Bernardino, which has been operating since 1947.

“Both organizations are very much embedded in the communities that we serve,” Uminski said. “So going along with that cultural competency, we like to find people who are working here that are from the community, that are providing services to the community—people who really understand the community, which I think says a lot for the county of San Bernardino’s Department of Behavioral Health.”

In essence, the organization strives to make sure that people have diverse places to go where they’re comfortable receiving services.

Overall, Citrus Counseling Services has become one of the area’s more resourceful mental health clinics, providing comprehensive mental health services, education, training, bridging clients to community services.

“There’s still a stigma already attached to behavioral health, but it’s getting better,” Uminski said.

Mental health issues are in the spotlight this month. May is Mental Health Awareness Month, which aims to raise public awareness about key health matters. One hope is to also reduce stigma associated with mental illness while also promoting support for individuals and families affected by these conditions.

Early Childhood Services Staff

Uminski says the nonprofit is ignited by a strong desire to help any individual who needs “compassionate care to achieve mental wellness.” To that end, the organization provides qualified therapists who offer evidence-based treatments for a variety of matters—from programs specific to children as young as infants to students, trauma victims, and military families.

When asked if he’s seeing a greater need for support in one mental and behavioral health arena than another recently, he points out the aftereffects of COVID-19.

“Post-pandemic, the demand for support from school-age youth has really increased,” he said. “We’re holding steady in the early childhood area—the zero to eight-year-old population. But in trauma services, I think we’re just scratching the surface because there’s a limited amount of funding for the number of qualified individuals in San Bernardino County.

“We’re serving all the people that we can, and we’re staying incredibly busy,” he added.

Learn more about Citrus Counseling Services Training at ccs-cares.org

This story originally appeared in the San Bernardino Sun May 2025.

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“Trees need people,” professes the nonprofit TreePeople. “And people need trees.”  In the wake of the January 2025 Southern California wildfires, the statement holds even greater impact.

Now, thanks to the League of California Community Foundations/Wildfire Resilience Fund through Inland Empire Community Foundation (IECF), TreePeople is broadening its reach in its mission to inspire, engage, and support individuals to take personal responsibility for the environment.

“TreePeople has traditionally been Los Angeles County-focused,” said David Pineda, Director of Strategy for the nonprofit. “And we are focused on restoration and reforestation projects in the Santa Monica and sometimes Santa Monica Mountains and the Angeles National Forest. 

“But this IECF grant really allowed us to advance our partnership and planning efforts that we have with the San Bernardino National Forest to conduct similar on-the-ground reforestation projects,” he added. “This allows us to plan strategically with the forest and partners to begin work and access additional resources to get the projects done.”

The grant specifically gives TreePeople an opportunity to hone in on the Apple and El Dorado fire star areas and plan and build a partnership with the forest service. That would allow the nonprofit to pursue larger public funds.

“Funding is a really crucial piece of that puzzle,” Pineda said.

It’s also an ongoing endeavor for TreePeople. Like most nonprofits, resources are key, yet in a given year, funding fluctuates, making the organization’s mission to inform people all the more challenging.

“People may not realize the scale at which the organization is operating on,” Pineda said. “We’re a staff of about 120 folks across the greater Los Angeles area, and more and more in the Inland Empire region. It’s important for folks to know that, yeah, we are doing work across the mountains in Southern California and across the urban communities in the IE and L.A. areas.”

Launched in 1973, TreePeople has become one of the largest environmental organizations stationed in Southern California. It aims to “inspire, engage, and support” more than 3 million people in the region to act for the environment. This can be done in numerous ways, but planting and caring for trees in forests, mountains, parks, and our neighborhoods is one key initiative. 

To that end, the nonprofit guides communities to create—perhaps “plant”—a more resilient future by greening their neighborhoods. Through its educational programs, TreePeople easily shares knowledge with various policymakers, students, educators, and communities in the region and around the world.

Pineda encourages individuals to visit the nonprofit’s website and consider volunteer opportunities. Forestry and school greening projects stand out. When schools are covered in concrete, for instance, TreePeople creates green schoolyards. Additionally, if communities experience food insecurity, TreePeople distributes fruit trees. 

Drought issues are also addressed. During California droughts, TreePeople designs solutions to capture rainwater. 

Two other key initiatives stand out.

One of them is education. TreePeople provides students, teachers, and school communities with knowledge and the tools and support needed to create environmental change. Another prominent anchor is the TreePeople Land Trust, which stewards more than 3,000 acres of land in the Santa Monica Mountains, thereby protecting those spaces for the benefit of future generations. 

To learn more or to volunteer, visit treepeople.org.

This article originally appeared in the Press-Enterprise, April 2025.

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In August 2023, Tropical Storm Hilary ripped through Coachella Valley, causing widespread flooding and damage, with the City of Palm Springs recording historic rainfall. In the aftermath, assistance came on many fronts and for many months.

To that end, a Build Coachella Fund grant via Inland Empire Community Foundation became a valuable resource for the nonprofit TODEC. Established in the early 1980s, the organization provides a lifeline for immigrants and their families in the region by offering advocacy, legal services, community organizing, civic engagement, and much more.

“With the grant, we concentrated our efforts in deploying assistance to farm workers that were impacted economically,” said Luz Gallegos, Executive Director of the organization. “During that time, there was a backlash from COVID and then Tropical Storm Hillary washed away our fields in the region. The only safety net that our farm workers have is their jobs. So, when that gets impacted, so do their families, and the economy.”

Gallegos said that the grant allowed TODEC to provide one-time financial assistance for workers who were impacted so they could purchase groceries and the like. 

“This is where the greatest impact was,” she added. “We paid it forward.”

TODEC has been doing that ever since its humble beginnings.

More than 40 years ago, Luz Maria and Antonio Ayala were new Americans hoping to build their lives in Perris, Calif. They had worked diligently to organize with the community in Michoacan, Mexico, and eventually with the United Farmworkers and Civil Rights Movement in Los Angeles before moving to the rural Inland Empire to grow their family.

It was at this time that they began seeing a wide range of injustices impacting their neighbors in the Inland Empire—from how they were improperly treated by employers and profiled by police to being ignored by politicians and watched by immigration. The duo founded TODEC to assist fellow recent immigrants with various aspects of American life, including learning English, establishing citizenship, and creating new connections in their new communities.

“We didn’t have so many protections back in the 1980 as we do now as in the state and in the country,” Gallegos said. “Some of the farmers didn’t want to pay their workers so they would just call Border Patrol and they would deport them. My parents founded the organization because they were living those realities along with our community, and it was important to organize and advocate for this farm worker community.”

Elevating their stories and voices became key when sharing information with elected officials.

“Out of that struggle, TODEC was founded,” she said. “Since then, the organization has grown to be a regional hub for immigrants in the Inland Empire, from Blythe and Eastern Riverside County, all the way to the High Desert and San Bernardino County.”

Today, TODEC’s reach is considerable. Civic engagement and voting remain significant initiatives. To that end, TODEC mobilizes locals to vote and be heard at the polls. 

Other programs and events stand out, too. TODEC’s Annual Festival Monarca y Feria Educativa, for instance, celebrated its 40th anniversary last year, empowering thousands of community members throughout the event, which featured entertainment, advocacy, and valuable connection with community members.

As the group moves deeper into 2025, Gallegos and the team are keeping their eye on shifts occurring in today’s political climate.

“Right now, more than ever, because of the political climate, fear of immigration amongst our farm workers, especially those that are undocumented, has risen,” she said. “We’ve had families report that they have not left their house since election day.”

She noted that some of those apprehensions include fears of raids and immigration patrols.

“That’s why we provide free community education, immigration legal resources, and legal support so that the community members know their constitutional rights,” Gallegos said. “With the constant changes in policies coming from the federal level, we want to make sure that our community is well-equipped and well-informed.”

Learn more at todec.org.

This article originally appeared in the Desert Sun, April 2025.

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Mary S. Roberts Pet Adoption Center ended 2024 on a high note with one of its highest adoption numbers ever. The milestone sets the tone for 2025, which finds the center broadening its reach through its various services and events.

“We’re happy that 2024 gave us highest number of pets adopted ever after a few years of a decline,” said Molly Shannon, Marketing and Communications Manager for Mary S. Roberts Pet Adoption Center. “It was around 2,200 adoptions, so we’re excited to keep the momentum going into 2025.”

Shannon is quick to note, however, that while an uptick in adoptions is a positive thing, other challenges remain.

“The reverse side of that is that there’s still so many pets and owners of pets that need assistance,” she said. “In many ways, 2024 has been a year of applications for owner surrenders upwards of like 30 a day. And while it’s great to have the 2,000-plus pets adopted, the pet overpopulation crisis is one that’s facing the entire nation.”

The Center hopes to thwart that in 2025, especially after coming off of a recent grant it received from Inland Empire Community Foundation through the Riverside County ARPA Fund, which will aid in its ongoing efforts.

“One way that people can help is, obviously, adopt, but I get that not everybody is ready to adopt or can,” Shannon added. “We also encourage our supporters to foster because even if they foster for one or two nights or a week, it doesn’t have to be a super long-term commitment. 

“Even that makes a difference,” she added. “It opens up kennel space at our organization, which means we can take in another pet. We’ve really amped up our foster program in 2024.”

The foster process stands out, in fact. One unique component offered is the Foster to Adopt program (FTA), which allows individuals who are unsure or not fully able to commit to adoption some time to learn more about a potential pet.

To that end, all dogs and cats more than a year old are spayed/neutered. Pets in the FTA program are eligible for a three-day or a two-week trial.

“In 2025, we will really put an emphasis on growing the foster team,” Shannon said. “When you foster for the adoption center, we provide all the materials and supplies. It’s not a big commitment for a person. They just provide love and attention and a safe space, and we give them all the supplies and vaccines that are required.

It’s one of many unique components running through the nonprofit, beginning with its history. 

More than 120 years ago, in 1897, The Riverside Humane Society (RHS) was formed in an effort to prevent cruelty to children and animals. The first shelter, which was dedicated in 1917, housed dogs, cats, horses, cows, birds, chickens, and other animals. In the 1950s, RHS offered full animal control services, including licensing, impounding stray animals, owner turn-ins, and investigating animal cruelty and aggressive-animal reports. 

The County of Riverside Department of Animal Services took over all animal control responsibilities in the mid-1990s, and after some time known as the Riverside Humane Society Pet Adoption Center, by 2010, with a newly constructed building in place, the organization’s name officially changed to the Mary S. Roberts Pet Adoption Center.

Its services now run the gamut of everything from pet loss support groups and a pet assistance food program to spay/neutering procedures, vaccinations, behavior training, and so much more.

In the meantime, mark your calendars for April 26, 2025. That’s when the nonprofit’s “Walk with the Animals” event takes place. It’s the Center’s largest annual fundraiser and assists greatly with making life-changing impacts on pets.

And their people.

Learn more at petsadoption.org.

This article originally appeared in the Press Enterprise, January 2025

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