Equity
Equity programs deliver specialized support to traditionally underrepresented groups, including immigrants, foster youth, and veterans, to ensure all students are able to meet their basic needs and achieve educational goals.
Resources to Meet
Students’ Basic Needs
Distributed over 200,000 marketing materials across all Equity department programs, which connected students, faculty, and staff with resources related to CalFresh, Crisis Text Line, the California Earned Income Tax Credit, the Foster Youth Success Initiative, and Undocumented Student Support.
Transitioned traditional outreach activities to be responsive to the COVID-19 virtual environment and reached more than 800,000 students through newsletters, social media, and digital material dissemination, and serving over 123,000 students and families through more personalized, one-on-one digital support conversations, dedicated online program trainings, and webinars.
Hosted 150 virtual events which reached more than 380,000 student attendees and raised awareness of the California Earned Income Tax Credit (CalEITC) and the Young Child Tax Credit (YCTC), and helped educate and empower low-income workers around tax credit eligibility, part of a campaign by the Golden State Opportunity Foundation.
Leveraged philanthropic and FoundationCCC partnerships to provide access to technology resources, including laptops and phone and internet services, to help foster youth and student ambassadors overcome challenges related to virtual learning.
Combating Student Hunger
and Homelessness
Raised over $320,000 in philanthropic funding to help students meet food and housing needs through programs which raise awareness of California’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, CalFresh, and provide housing to vulnerable populations, including foster youth.
Increased awareness of CalFresh by distributing toolkits and more than 185,000 program materials to 77 colleges, and through the expansion of the CalFresh Outreach Student Ambassador program into the Sacramento and Los Angeles regions with 35 Student Ambassadors making over 40,000 connections through in-person and digital outreach efforts.
Trained over 350 college staff on how to conduct CalFresh Outreach in a COVID-19 environment through a partnership with the Chancellor’s Office and the Chico State Center for Healthy Communities, and helped attendees advocate for and assist students through the CalFresh application process.
Provided research, data, and draft language to the Chancellor's Office for budget and policy initiatives related to housing and homelessness, developed a statewide student housing toolkit for colleges to help them initiate projects which address local homelessness, and connected Cabrillo College and Santa Rosa Jr. College with student-centered housing technical assistance.
Connecting Students to Mental Health and Wellness Resources
Increased awareness of the Crisis Text Line, a free, 24/7, text-based confidential crisis assistance service, leading to usage by over 2,500 users resulting in 15,392 conversations between students and crisis counselors.
Provided online suicide prevention training resources to over 7,500 faculty, staff, and students at 115 colleges, bringing the total of faculty, staff, and students trained to 110,000 since 2011 through an ongoing partnership with Kognito.
Hosted a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion training series for over 2,500 faculty and staff through the California Community Colleges Health and Wellness Program, which focused on how to best support the mental health needs of underrepresented and underserved communities.
Engaged 20 Student Wellness Ambassadors across 14 colleges to serve as mental health and wellness advocates through peer outreach, with ambassadors making over 240,000 connections through in-person and digital outreach efforts.
Supporting Specialized
Student Populations
Through the Legal Services Project, a partnership with the California Department of Social Services, provided free immigration legal services to students including help submitting over 600 DACA and 100 naturalization applications, and conducting over 1,800 legal consultation appointments.
Provided technical assistance to the UndocuLiasion network as mandated by AB 1645, and specifically advised on how to source funding for UndocuLiasion positions on local college campuses.
Coordinated advocacy, outreach, and activities for the fourth annual Undocumented Student Action Week, which received participation from 114 colleges.
Awarded $22,500 to 18 community colleges through the Youth Empowerment Strategies for Success—Independent Living Program (YESS–ILP) to support their programs which helped 1,845 current and former foster youth transition into independent living.
Provided nearly $180,000 to YESS-ILP foster youth participants for pandemic relief aid through an anonymous gift.
Launched a new website for the Rising Scholars Network, a network of colleges serving students who have been impacted by the criminal justice system, where students and practitioners can find active programs at 56 colleges and explore resources.
Supported local college and Chancellor’s Office-led efforts to secure ongoing, public funding to college programs serving incarcerated and formerly incarcerated students.
Diversifying Educational
and Career Pathways
Awarded 14 colleges with Student Engagement Innovation Grant funding to pilot equity-centered student engagement strategies and strengthen Guided Pathways.
Held the California LAW sixth annual Pathways to Law Summit virtually to connect over 200 law practitioners and educators to exchange strategies, make connections, and participate in discussions which help promote diversity in the legal profession.
Hosted the first “Law Day” with California LAW, which featured state and federal-level judges who spoke to over 200 students, faculty, and staff on the importance of the rule of law in upholding American rights and liberties during times of unrest.