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La Lucha Fund is closed and is no longer accepting applications or donations. The fund was created as a short-term, emergency response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and was designed to provide immediate financial resources directly to families who are undocumented or have mixed immigration status in Kent County, making them ineligible for unemployment, CARES Act relief, or other government support.
From April to December 2020, La Lucha Fund accomplished its goal by awarding $750,000 to 1,200 families across the county. La Lucha Fund was a collaboration between Movimiento Cosecha, the Grand Rapids Area Mutual Aid Network, The Hispanic Center of Western Michigan and LatinxGR, and was held at Grand Rapids Community Foundation.
La Lucha Fund was also made possible through the support of generous donor partners. These included the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Heart of West Michigan United Way, the Frey Foundation, the Solomon Family Foundation, Hispanics in Philanthropy’s Essential Fund, the City of Grand Rapids, and well over 500 individual donations from community members across the city, state, and country.
There are still many opportunities to support families who are undocumented; see below for some ideas. For further questions about La Lucha Fund, please contact Erika VanDyke, program officer, at 616-284-4935 or evandyke@grfoundation.org. You may also wish to consider permanently endowing a fund to support local undocumented communities into perpetuity. For more information about this, please contact Jenine Torres, development officer, at 616-284-4953 or jtorres@grfoundation.org.
La Lucha Fund is closed, but I would still like to support families who are undocumented. Do you have any recommendations of places to give?
During this global health crisis, members of our community who are undocumented have been particularly at risk. However, it is critical to understand that even under regular circumstances, these neighbors don't have access to basic necessities like health insurance, paid sick leave, unemployment, or other social safety net programs due to their immigration status. At a time when many in our community are vulnerable to eviction or utility shut off, these neighbors also do not qualify for rent or utility assistance programs from the state or federal government. If you are passionate about helping to ensure that all families in our community are able to thrive, regardless of their immigration status, please consider making a gift to any of the following organizations:
● Movimiento Cosecha (national or Grand Rapids chapter)
● GR Rapid Response to ICE*
● Grand Rapids Area Mutual Aid Network*
● The Hispanic Center of Western Michigan
● Michigan Immigrant Rights Center
● Justice For Our Neighbors
● Immigrant Connection
*Please note that while these are not formal 501c3 organizations, they provide critical direct cash assistance to families in their networks, and therefore are the closest in philosophy and practice to La Lucha Fund.
HOW MUCH ASSISTANCE IS AVAILABLE?
Approved families receive a maximum of $900.
HOW WILL FUNDS BE DISBURSED?
Applicants are able to choose to receive their funds as checks, which are mailed to them, or as a Visa gift card, which they pick up at the Hispanic Center. The use of gift cards was made possible through a partnership with Mercantile Bank of Michigan.