Our longtime partners at Akonadi Foundation recently shared a powerful story  from their grantee partners at Mujeres Unidas y Activas (MUA). Cómo Mujeres Unidas y Activas está fortaleciendo el poder de las mujeres inmigrantes details how a small support group became a movement, how domestic workers won landmark legal protections in California, and why flexible, long-term funding is essential to the kind of deep community work that no grant cycle can fully anticipate. Check out the blog here. 

“We’re doing two to five times the grant sizes that we did in the past to try to be more responsive to this moment,” said Yamani Yansá Hernandez, CEO of Groundswell Fund, as the organization continues to respond to escalating attacks on bodily autonomy and democratic rights. Groundswell recently announced a shift in their strategy and will now deepen their investment in grassroots organizations building long-term power in key battleground states. Read more in this article from Inside Philanthropy.

Californians for Safety and Justice (CSJ) continues to rally attention around the growing gap between crime survivors’ needs and the support they receive. “These tough-on-crime laws are put in front of voters with the narrative that we’re not doing enough to protect people who’ve been harmed. Meanwhile, the one program in the state that is supposed to respond to victims is not doing that,” said Executive Director Tinisch Hollins. A new report released by CSJ finds that while the state’s victim compensation fund has grown, fewer survivors are receiving help for essentials like therapy, relocation, medical care, and funeral costs. As part of the Survivors Speak convening, over 250 people marched to the California State Capitol Tuesday to urge state leaders to increase state funding and support for victims of crime and their families, as state support has faltered due to budget cuts and declining federal funding. Read more in The Guardian, Davis Vanguard, CalMatters, and CBS News. Read CSJ’s full report here.