Catholic Charities of the Central Coast has received $1.5 million in state funding to expand legal services for immigrant families across the region.
The funding is part of a $25 million allocation by the state to provide legal support to immigrants, and a portion of it has now been granted to Catholic Charities. California Assemblymember Dawn Addis highlighted the need for this funding after learning about a woman’s struggle to obtain legal assistance.
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“When I was doing former community organizing, I was asked to get involved with a woman who was facing deportation proceedings for months, if not years,” Addis said. “She thought that she was paying an attorney to file forms for her, and when we looked at who that person was, they were listed on the website as having already lost their license.”
Catholic Charities staff currently includes three attorneys and nine Department of Justice staff serving Monterey, Santa Cruz, San Benito, and San Luis Obispo counties.
“So we’re expanding our services, meaning that we will increase our capacity to bring additional staff to support and to reach more people that we’re currently reaching,” Angela Di Novela, with the Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Monterey, said.
Addis acknowledged the tremendous need in the Central Coast to assist underserved communities, which often get overlooked.
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