Charting the Path to Equity
What We Do
Our Ecosystem
People Power Hub
Our ecosystem, the People Power Hub, emphasizes the interconnectedness of our various initiatives. Each part of this ecosystem is crucial, as they impact one another. By strengthening these connections, we foster a resilient and thriving community where everyone has the autonomy and resources to shape their own lives.
It is essential to support and fund the overall vision of Community Hub de Santa Ana, rather than focusing on a single program. This holistic approach ensures that all interconnected parts of our ecosystem can flourish together, creating a healthy and sustainable future towards greater equity, health, and justice.
Community Companionship to Create Change
Project Incubation
Community Hub de Santa Ana offers an innovative incubation platform designed to provide support and companionship to community members striving to bring their impactful ideas to life. Our approach redefines the management of nonprofit organizations by operating as an incubator, reshaping the concept of fiscal sponsorship along the way.
Fiscal sponsorship serves as a gateway for projects to tap into diverse funding opportunities, while also serving as a central hub for administrative needs. However, unlike traditional models burdened with administrative hurdles and exploitative fees, the Hub prioritizes genuine connection with project leaders, transforming the relationship into a collaborative journey.
As these ideas evolve, residents can establish their own nonprofit organizations, worker-owned cooperatives, for-profit ventures, or other entities and test these concepts with various institutions, agencies, and system providers. Community Hub de Santa Ana ensures residents have access to tailored support services and connects them to a wider network of opportunities.
Current Grassroots Allies
People's Budget Orange County
A coalition of organizers and residents advocating for the County of Orange’s discretionary spending budget.
Transforming Justice Orange County
Organizers promote prison alternatives through community engagement and leadership development.
Citric Acid Journal
Santa Ana Collaborative for Responsible Development (SACReD)
A resident-led coalition promoting civic engagement in economic development
Cooperativa Tierra y Dignidad
Tenants United Santa Ana
People's Budget Orange County
A coalition of organizers and residents advocating for the County of Orange’s discretionary spending budget.
Transforming Justice Orange County
Organizers promote prison alternatives through community engagement and leadership development.
Citric Acid Journal
An online literary arts quarterly journal of imagination and reimagination in Orange County.
Santa Ana Collaborative for Responsible Development (SACReD)
A resident-led coalition promoting civic engagement in economic development
Cooperativa Tierra y Dignidad
Cooperativa Tierra y Dignidad is a worker-owned cooperative focused on equitable land use and community empowerment.
Tenants United Santa Ana
Tenants United Santa Ana advocates for rent control and tenant rights, promoting fair housing policies.
Economic Opportunities and Development
Mini-Grants Miriam Lopez
Community Hub de Santa Ana understands the importance of acknowledging and honoring those whose contributions have impacted our lives. With profound respect and admiration, we proudly introduce the Colibri de Cambio: Mini-Grants Miriam Lopez. This re-naming is a heartfelt tribute to the extraordinary Miriam Lopez, whose unwavering dedication and passion for community service have inspired us all. These mini-grants will forever carry her name, a perpetual reminder of her enduring legacy.
The Colibri de Cambio Mini-Grant program provides funding up to $2,000 to community groups dedicated to fostering positive change within their communities. The program includes technical assistance for groups requiring support in compiling their funding applications. Over the past decade, the program has liberated $120,000 in grant funding.
Beyond financial support, this program aims to cultivate collective skills and knowledge, creating pathways for economic opportunities and growth. Participants can explore cooperative business development ideas and gain insights into funding application procedures, fund management structures, and reporting requirements.
Solidarity Fund
In'Lakesh Mutual Aid
Community Hub de Santa Ana is at the forefront of a transformative approach to managing and distributing funding and resources for community initiatives. We aim to cultivate enduring relationships and centering individuals and groups to drive social change by prioritizing mutual aid, mini-grants, fiscal sponsorship, and fellowships.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Community Hub de Santa Ana swiftly adapted its efforts to deliver mutual aid and essential services directly to residents. Later, the program integrated the referral system findhelp.org to help connect, track, and provide other resources to community members. The establishment of the In’Lakesh Relief Fund, grounded in the Mayan concept of unity, has significantly impacted the organization, providing over $2.5 million in direct cash aid to more than 3,500 families in Orange County. Despite operating at reduced capacity with support from Radiate Cooperative, securing unrestricted funding remains crucial to sustain this vital program and address the ongoing needs of our community.
Centering Community
Community Research & Storytelling
At Community Hub de Santa Ana, we are establishing a center for learning and practicing Community Research & Storytelling, challenging prevailing white-dominant norms and traditional assessment methods. Using the Equitable Evaluation Framework™ as a guide to inform our own process and learning, and building on the foundation of our Transformative Principles, we aim to center community evaluation. Through Community Research & Storytelling, community residents, both teens and adults, are encouraged to gauge the changes and achievements within their community firsthand. With residents actively engaged in the learning process alongside experienced evaluation consultants, our approach emphasizes hands-on involvement.
After years of conventional evaluation support overlooking the profound impacts and narratives of community members striving for collective and personal transformation, Community Hub de Santa Ana has embarked on piloting this new practice. By prioritizing community-centered evaluation, we seek to amplify voices, foster ownership, and leverage Equitable Evaluation principles to forge innovative practices, tools, and skills. This transformative shift not only enhances the value of the Hub but also addresses the evolving learning needs of our community partners.
Community Hub de Santa Ana can facilitate a Community Research & Storytelling approach for other nonprofit organizations or institutions who want to conduct their own project or initiative evaluations. The Hub will train the community members in those spaces in the principles and practices of Community Research & Storytelling so that they are well-equipped to conduct their own evaluation. Partner with us to collaborate and pilot this in your community.
Building People Power
Leadership Institute (LI)
The Leadership Institute (LI) is a collaborative endeavor between Community Hub de Santa Ana and partner organizations dedicated to enhancing community members’ capacity, skills, and knowledge in the City of Santa Ana and OC. Our mission is to equip Santa Ana residents and partners with the tools and expertise needed for effective community engagement and civic action, ultimately enriching neighborhood life. We aim to nurture a group of community leaders in Santa Ana who can advance the community’s objectives, championing health and equity and placing residents at the forefront.
We are committed to providing high-quality training programs to Santa Ana’s community members and fostering their involvement in civic and community initiatives. Through partnerships with established and emerging organizations and agencies, we ensure that residents possess the necessary knowledge, skills, and resources to drive positive change throughout Santa Ana and OC.
Building People Power
Transformative Principles Curriculum
Community Hub de Santa Ana is a capacity development collaborator providing support that uplifts the Transformative Principles for social change. To build the capacity and promote the overall well-being of community members, the Hub provides space for safe community conversations, practicing arts and cultural activities, training, convening, equitable evaluation, and fellowships. With a firm grounding in Transformative Principles, the Hub provides a safe space for processing, having difficult conversations, and training for community-based leadership.
Community Hub de Santa Ana has developed a Transformative Principles Curriculum for those working collaboratively as organizers or agency representatives. This workshop series provides the tools and education on the values necessary to bring into any collaborative space. If these principles are implemented, it will orient the culture of community organizing to minimize harm and burnout while achieving true community transformation. The Hub uses its Transformative Principles Curriculum to train and orient all parties on meaningful resident engagement. This curriculum enables the group to have conversations before making the decisions that need to be made with community residents present. Once community residents are part of the collaborative, the Hub continues to uplift the Transformative Principles to ensure that the work remains community-driven, focused on community well-being, that immediate needs are being met, that the collaborative is addressing systems change at the root, and that intentional trainings, conscious communication, conflict resolution, intersectional structures, and arts and culture are all part of the operating strategies.
Building People Power
Equity in Engagement
Community Hub de Santa Ana recognizes the intrinsic value of residents’ time and contributions to our community initiatives. In line with our commitment to the Transformative Principles and drawing from a decade of community organizing experience, we prioritize compensating residents for the time they dedicate to engaging with us.
We aim to ensure that all residents feel valued and respected for their involvement in meetings, events, and projects. We understand that participating in community activities requires significant time and effort, and offering some compensation is essential.
To achieve this, we are continuously exploring creative ideas and securing funds to offer stipends to residents for their participation. Whether attending meetings, volunteering at events, or sharing their knowledge and expertise, community members deserve fair compensation for their invaluable contributions.
By valuing residents’ time this way, we recognize their dedication and commitment and foster a culture of care and trust within our community. Together, we strive to create a space where community members feel appreciated and compensated for contributing to our positive transformation toward social justice.
Community-Driven Regenerative Economy
Collaborative Center
Drawing upon the years of community power building work that community leaders and organizations have already created, this project aims to:
- Build systems to move from rapid response mutual aid to long term community communications infrastructure
- Build systems to move from philanthropy-based project funding to shared financing of community-owned infrastructure for community, health, and climate resilience.
Partners working towards Economia Regenerativa Comunitaria: Santa Ana Shared Financing for Community Ownership include THRIVE Santa Ana Community Land Trust, Santa Ana Building Healthy Communities, Cooperacion Santa Ana, CRECE Urban, and UCI Community Resilience Farms. The collaborative partners are promoting divestment from harmful industries and investment in community-led projects.
