The Latino community has been hit hard by COVID-19, but has only received a small fraction of the money meant to help people and businesses recover during the pandemic.
Forty-five percent of all COVID-19 deaths have been suffered in the Latino community as Latinos continually return to the field in essential jobs while others are given the privilege to work from home.
"For decades Latinos have been the backbone of our economy in California and have not prospered equitably across the state," Jacqueline Martinez Garcel, CEO of the Latino Community Foundation based in San Francisco, told KCBS Radio.
Garcel's organization is working to ensure that a greater share of the federal and philanthropic dollars met for recovery go to Latino businesses and individuals.
"Latinos were hailed for showing up to work and putting themselves at risk in these essential jobs," she said. "We could not afford to forget them and put them at the front of the line as we thought about and imagined a new economy that would be more inclusive and just."
The Latino Community Foundation has, so far, raised $10 million for community businesses. The goal is $50 million, a fraction of the Latino community's worth.
Garcel warned if the government and philanthropic organizations don't invest in Latino businesses and communities, every single American will feel the impact.
"If we haven't yet figured out how critical this workforce is to our economy, then we are going to be feeling the repercussions of that as a nation," she said. "I want to look forward and imagine a new future where young Latinos are leading the way in jobs that are paying enough for families to break out of poverty and build wealth."
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