Message from the Executive Director
Every month at Monument Impact brings something new. This month, we started a new quarter of Technology Classes in Spanish and a new semester of our advanced Career Track program . Our Day Labor Program r eached out to dozens of street laborers who wait outside Home Depot for work and several have joined the program.
 
We also started up four new Mentes Positivas en Acción classes this month. Since February, these group-based, peer-led classes have served over 70 community members experiencing stress or depression. It’s really no wonder that so many people in our community are stressed out. With a broken immigration system that separates families (as of this writing, hundreds of children taken at the border still haven’t been reunited with their parents) and criminalizes immigrants, families are afraid to leave their homes.
 
Adding to this stress is the housing crisis. In this current environment, we need to make a connection between immigrant rights and housing rights. Immigrants in the Monument Corridor (and elsewhere in the Bay Area) have reported that their landlords have threatened to call ICE or evict them if they question a rent increase or ask for repairs. [Click here for Herminia’s housing story]
 
Make no mistake; this crisis is hitting ALL tenants in Concord. A new study released on July 12th by EBASE, CCRG/First 5 and Raise the Roof Coalition details the devastating impacts that unstable housing has on seniors and families with children. The Economic Policy Institute recently released its 2018 Family Budget Calculator and in Contra Costa County , a family of four needs to earn over $125,000 to afford rent, child care, food, health care and other basics. A new Housing and Urban Development report states that $89,600 is considered low-income in our County.
 
Concord’s skyrocketing rents don’t leave many options for low-income tenants—especially those earning far less than $89,600—and we are seeing growing numbers of community members dropping into our two sites for help with an eviction or finding affordable housing. In response to the crisis, Monument Impact hosted a housing forum, which you can read about here.
 
As we continue to fight for tenant and immigrant rights, we are thankful for the support of community members like you.
In gratitude,
Debra Ballinger Bernstein
Executive Director
Recent News
Concord's Housing Crisis: A Tenant Story
Concord tenant Herminia, (her name has been changed for this story) and her husband were hit with a $100 rent increase immediately after signing a one-year lease in 2016. Then there was a $300 increase in 2017, and her rent went up another $300 this year. “Today my monthly rent is $2,300 for a two-bedroom apartment, which is not in good condition,” she said.
MI Hosts a Community Engagement Forum on Housing
Monument Impact was one of four Bay Area nonprofits to host a Community Session on the Metropolitan Transportation Commission’s CASA (Committee to House the Bay Area) project’s framework and strategies to alleviate the Bay Area’s housing crisis. Click here for full report.
Update on MI's Summer Institute on Immigration
We are winding down our Summer Institute on Immigration, where six interns learned advocacy and organizing tools and how to conduct Know Your Rights and Legal Observer Trainings. In four weeks, this impressive group of students reached out to over 1,530 residents and small business owners in Central Contra Costa County with information about Stand Together CoCo. Many thanks to our great team of interns from DVC: Alitzel Blanco, Gus Guerrero, Karen Hernandez, Hassam Jawaid, Daniel Marquez and Joanna Torres!
Bienvenidos
In July, we hosted our first Bienvenidos open house for local residents to learn how Monument Impact transforms lives and builds community. If interested, the next Bienvenidos is on August 23 at 6:00 PM and we’d love to see you, your friends and colleagues there!
Spotlight: Meet Masoom Hussaini
Masoom Hussaini is Monument Impact’s Employment Readiness Case Manager. Through MI’s CalWORK’s program, Masoom helps refugees with limited English proficiency enter the workforce. He connects clients to ESL classes to improve their workplace English, provides individual career and educational training, and works with local businesses to facilitate opportunities for subsidized employment for participants. When asked what drives him, Masoom says “I feel loyalty to the country that accepted me and protected me, and I want to make life better for everyone by applying my skills. I am sure that a lot of immigrant job seekers feel the same.”

As a refugee himself from Afghanistan, Masoom is a former Monument Impact CalWORK’s client. This personal experience is a tremendous asset for the program as Masoom brings a unique combination of professionalism, empathy and optimism to his work. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the International University of Pune, India and is fluent in English Hindi, Urdu, Pashto, Dari and Farsi. Prior to coming to the United States, Masoom worked in various international donor and government related projects such as World Bank, GIZ, Italian Cooperation and USAID. At USAID, he was the Regional Municipal Economic Development Advisor of the West Region in Afghanistan.

Masoom has made a tremendous impact on our community. A recent participant of Monument Impact’s CalWORKS program, Alexcel Tan Mones, was placed at Jova Beauty Manufacturing Company as a machine operator just two days after enrolling in the program. Alexcel commented, “Coming to Monument Impact was a positive experience for me. Masoom connected me to my current job where I was promoted to facility manager. He has become a mentor to me.”

Reflecting on everything that led him to his position at Monument Impact, Masoom says, “I’ve been challenged a lot. I believe in challenge, I love to be challenged. It's important to remember that your current situation is not your future. Be confident, have hope and never give up.”
Events
SAVE THE DATE: Come and Celebrate Hispanic Heritage month with us. Sponsorship opportunities available

We invite you to Bienvenidos, our Open House. Thursday, August 23. Come learn about our Impact in Concord RSVP
Know Your Rights and legal observer training workshops. Get Involved! Register today
Help Support our work and the community we serve.