ICF RECEIVES FUNDING FROM ROCKEFELLER FOUNDATION TO INITIATE RESEARCH ON SAN DIEGO COUNTY’S MIGRANT COMMUNITY TO EXPLORE CROSS-BORDER LINKAGES TO BAJA CALIFORNIA

In an effort to further explore how and in what ways Mexican border communities in Baja California affect the lives and livelihoods of largely Hispanic communities in San Diego County as well as what can be done to enhance the cross-border community in the San Diego-Baja California region, ICF has recently received $300,000 in funding over two years from the Rockefeller Foundation to support research aimed at undertaking a community based study of San Diego’s Mexican immigrant community so as to better understand migration patterns, degree of civic participation, challenges to integration and the extent of cross-border linkages with communities in Northern Baja California (family ties, religious, sport/civic/social events, education, medical care).

During the project’s first year, a grant for $90,381 will be made to the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) North American Economic Integration Center and a grant for $34,000 will be made to University of California, San Diego (UCSD)’s Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies to support the referenced research. Through the grant, additional collaboration will be undertaken with the Colegio de la Frontera Norte in Tijuana.

In year two of the grant, ICF will be leading an expanded cross-border assessment focusing on the impact that immigration is having on low-income communities in San Diego County and how Baja California nonprofit organizations can contribute towards addressing trans-boundary problems and concerns impacting San Diego County including migrant outreach in the areas of education, substance abuse, teens at risk, health care, and environmental education.

This expanded research will be undertaken through partial funding from the Rockefeller Foundation. The funding will also support the organization of a series of structured cross-border dialogues among San Diego and Baja California grantmaking organizations and NGOs working in education, employment, and civic participation.