This department is funded by the State of California Department of Community Services and Development (CSD) through Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) funds.

We assist low-income families/individuals in Imperial County to meet their basic needs and promote self-sufficiency.

We partner with the Emergency Food and Shelter Program (EFSP) to provide assistance to families/individuals that are homeless or at-risk of homelessness. This collaboration allows us to help pay past due rent or utilities, and provide emergency food. We also partner with the Imperial Valley Food Bank, to provide USDA Commodities distribution in two sites and provide families/individuals with access to healthy food. By helping alleviate these immediate needs, we also gain the opportunity to offer additional emergency and social service support to improve socio-economic status and overall wellness of low-income families/individuals in Imperial County.

In addition, we partner with the Internal Revenue Service and coordinate two VITA sites. Federal and state income tax returns are electronically filed free of charge for low to moderate income working households. We promote the federal Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and the new California Earned Income Tax Credit (CA .EITC). As per the report “Left on the Table”, by Antonio Avalos and Sean Alley, 2010, New America Foundation (www.newamerica.org), research shows that the federal EITC is an effective tool for supporting work and alleviating poverty by supplementing the earnings of minimum-wage workers. It is widely regarded as the nation’s most effective anti-poverty program.