In 2026, Community Foundation Sonoma County's Fund for Belonging will distribute more than $1 million to support Sonoma County's immigrant communities in three key areas: legal information sharing to reduce confusion and fear, income generation to increase financial security, and safe spaces to foster community and wellbeing.
Sonoma Together Launch
Through this work, we are excited to announce the launch of Sonoma Together, a new collaboration of immigration legal services organizations supporting legal information sharing in our community. The goal of this work is to create a centralized source of easily understood legal information that will be widely disseminated across Sonoma County to those who need it most.
Sonoma Together, made up of Immigration Institute of the Bay Area (IIBA), Sonoma Immigrant Services (SIS), and Vital Immigrant Defense Advocacy & Services (VIDAS), provides urgent legal information in multiple languages and in formats that are easy to understand such as videos and flyers. The pilot for Sonoma Together’s launch was supported by the Trusted Messenger Network Design Team, a group of organizations with deep roots in outreach, education, and advocacy that understand the complex needs of our diverse immigrant communities.
“I’m grateful that VIDAS is a partner in Sonoma Together. Close collaboration with regional immigration law organizations has been critical to securing safety for our community,” said Monica Julian, Executive Director of VIDAS. “There’s so much misinformation getting out in the community, and the number of messages that we receive any time a new policy comes down is overwhelming. This is an important opportunity to create a process for getting information out in a good way, and I’m excited about where we are and what is possible going forward.”
These investments in expanding immigrant communities’ access to information reduces fear and helps families make decisions that shape their daily lives.The Community Foundation is grateful to every member of Sonoma Together and the Trusted Messenger Network Design Team for the expertise, dedication, and heart that they bring to this work each and every day.
Trusted Messenger Network Design Team
The Fund for Belonging aims to respond to the multi-faceted challenges facing our local immigrant communities. Our vision is to create an inclusive Sonoma County that welcomes immigrants and supports the conditions for them to thrive. In 1.5 years since the Fund for Belonging launched, CFSC has hosted more than 150 conversations with local nonprofits, community leaders, and national immigration philanthropists to ensure our work is driven by community voice and expertise from within and beyond Sonoma County.
In fall 2025, CFSC distributed $655,000 through an open, competitive grant process.
View the 2025 Fund for Belonging grantees.
