California Campus Catalyst Fund

Dreaming Higher: Investing in California’s Future by Investing in Undocumented Students

Posted by: Communications on March 6, 2020

Categories: California Campus Catalyst Fund, Educational Partnerships, In the Media

"Today, 11 million undocumented people live in a state of constant uncertainty and fear that they could be ripped from their lives and the people they love at any moment. And yet these aspiring Americans continue to work, live, learn and pursue their dreams—strengthening the communities and institutions they’re an integral part of."

California Community Colleges’ New Mandate To Serve DACA Students Has No Funding

Posted by: Communications on October 22, 2019

Categories: California Campus Catalyst Fund, General Announcements, In the Media

"Now that Governor Gavin Newsom has signed AB 1645 into law, California Community Colleges are required to expand resources for undocumented immigrant students. However, there is one major problem with this law: the lack of funding to implement...Earlier this year California Community Colleges reported that only 35 of the system’s 115 community colleges have Dream Resource Centers. The existing centers are supported by a combination of the colleges’ own funding as well as external dollars."

California community colleges need money to meet new state law to help dreamers

Posted by: Communications on October 16, 2019

Categories: California Campus Catalyst Fund, In the Media

Currently, 35 of the system’s 115 community colleges have Dream Resource Centers, according to a report on undocumented students published earlier this year by the California Community Colleges. The existing centers are supported by a combination of the colleges’ own funding as well as external dollars. For example, the California Campus Catalyst Fund, an initiative that supports undocumented students, helps fund centers at colleges including Chabot College in Alameda County, Oxnard College in Ventura County and San Diego Mesa College.

Get Inspired! Connect! Take Action! Recap from the Second Catalyst Fund Convening

Posted by: Communications on September 27, 2019

Categories: California Campus Catalyst Fund, Educational Partnerships, General Announcements

On September 12th and 13th, Immigrants Rising hosted its second Catalyst Fund Convening in Long Beach. Over 200 individuals—90 educators, 62 students, and 43 presenters and panelists from throughout California—attended this engaging event.

Dream Resource Center Opens in Oxnard

Posted by: Communications on September 12, 2019

Categories: California Campus Catalyst Fund, Educational Partnerships, In the Media

“We are very lucky to be the recipient of the Catalyst fund grant,” said Dolores Ortiz, a sociology professor at Oxnard College. “It is a three-year grant that we will have over $300,000 and we have a lot of great programming. What we are aiming to do is create sustainable resources so that even when the grant money runs out we continue to offer resources to students and in the Ventura County area.”

Dream Resource Center Grand Opening

Posted by: Communications on August 20, 2019

Categories: California Campus Catalyst Fund, In the Media

Published August 20, 2019.

Oxnard College celebrates the grand opening and ribbon cutting of its Dream Resource Center on Wednesday, August 14. The Center will provide comprehensive services to undocumented students, their families and campus allies.

Read the full story: Dream Resource Center Grand Opening (The VCCCD Connection)…

South Coast College Opens New Resource Center For Undocumented Students

Posted by: Communications on August 19, 2019

Categories: California Campus Catalyst Fund, In the Media

Published August 19, 2019.

Starting this fall, Oxnard College will have new resources available at the school’s Dream Resource Center.

“Knowing that there’s a resource on campus to help guide them I think is very powerful, it’s a powerful statement,” Cobian says.…

Safe space: Sierra College works to close achievement gap, help students with new undocumented center

Posted by: Communications on May 2, 2019

Categories: California Campus Catalyst Fund, In the Media

Published April 29, 2019.

Sierra College is working towards building undocumented student center and bringing more services for undocumented students on their two campuses, including personalized enrollment assistance, personal, career and academic counseling, financial aid assistance, student engagement center, on-campus food pantry, free legal consultations and more.…

Southwestern College Holds Ribbon Cutting for New Campus Dreamer Center

Posted by: Communications on May 2, 2019

Categories: California Campus Catalyst Fund, In the Media

Published April 25, 2019.

Norma Vizcaino, an Immigrants’ Rising Student Fellow, a DACA recipient and a computer science major, said immigrant students can often feel alone and isolated because it’s difficult to ask for help without feeling like a target.

“The Dreamer Center on campus is so important because students like me have somewhere visible to go to and ask for help and meet people you can trust,” said Vizcaino, a first-generation college student.…

Women’s March San Francisco 2020

Inclusion & Change Group, Scholar, Staff

"I march in gratitude for educators like Rosa Maria, my ESL teacher from Costa Rica, whom I met in Los Angeles when I was 17," said Marithza. "Her classroom was the only safe place that I had; it was the only place where I felt heard and seen. I left Rosa Maria’s class a year later with a new language, a new community and a commitment to my education."