Updated May 20, 12:30 p.m.
California’s Disaster Relief Assistance for Immigrants (DRAI) program, which aims to provide financial assistance for undocumented people across the state, is now accepting applications.
To apply, adult immigrants must demonstrate they have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and are not eligible to receive any federal coronavirus relief, such as in the CARES Act.
The DRAI offers a one-time direct payment of $500, with a maximum limit of $1,000 per household.
Starting May 18, individuals may apply for this assistance by calling the nonprofit organization assigned to their county or region. You can find the list of organizations by county here.
Bay Area
Catholic Charities of California: (415) 324-1011
Rural Northern California (plus Napa, Sonoma and Solano counties)
California Human Development Corporation: (707) 228-1338
Central Coast
Santa Barbara, Ventura counties – Mixteco/Indigena Community Organizing Project: (805) 519-7776 Monterey, San Benito, San Luis Obispo, Santa Cruz counties – Community Action Board Santa Cruz: (800) 228-6820
Central Valley
Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, Merced, Tulare, Mono counties – United Farm Workers Foundation: (877) 527-6660 Mariposa, Sacramento, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Sutter, Tuolumne, Yolo, Yuba counties – California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation: (877) 557-0521
Los Angeles
Los Angeles county – Central American Resource Center: (213) 315-2659 Los Angeles and Orange counties – Asian Americans Advancing Justice: (213) 241-8880 Los Angeles and Orange counties – Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights: (213) 201-8700 and (213) 395-9547
Inland Empire
San Bernardino Community Service Center: (888) 444-0170 and (909) 521-7535 TODEC Legal Center Perris: (888) 863-3291
San Diego
Jewish Family Service of San Diego: (760) 206-3242 and (858) 206-8281
The information applicants provide will only be used to confirm eligibility and no personal information will be shared with any government agency, according to the California Department of Social Services (CDSS). But the nonprofits processing requests will send CDSS general demographics about the pool of applicants, such as age and gender.
So far, the response has been overwhelming. On the first day people could apply, nonprofits screening applicants in just eight counties said they got 1.3 million calls.
Christopher Martinez with Catholic Charities of the East Bay said their phone system crashed multiple times due to demand. Undocumented spouses of U.S. citizens, day laborers, seniors and homeless people were among more than 200,000 callers from six Bay Area counties, he said.
âThat is absolutely unprecedented. I think that it just really shows you the enormity of the need in the community,â said Martinez.
The state aims to help up to 150,000 undocumented Californians with the relief.
In Los Angeles and Orange counties, the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights or CHIRLA has added a new phone line after more than 1 million people called on Monday. They expect funds wonât run out for some weeks, and advise people to keep calling until they get through.
“We are working diligently to help as many people as we can and to deal with any technical issues that might arise,” said Angelica Salas, executive director of CHIRLA, in a statement earlier this week. “We are committed to work through every issue and to continue to advocate for our community now and in the future. We know this help is much needed and we know our community trusts us to deliver it to them.”
New DRAI Flyer English Color With Live Links 5 19 2020 Source document contributed to DocumentCloud by David Marks (KQED ).
Catholic Charities of California, the organization serving six Bay Area counties, opened an additional phone line to support the high demand for undocumented Californians seeking to apply for financial aid. People in the Bay Area seeking support can now call the new number 415-324-1011, Monday through Saturday from 8 a.m. at 8 p.m., in addition to the original phone number that had been provided on May 18, 2020, 1-866-490-3899.
Catholic Charities San Francisco on Twitter @btris06 @LinaBlanco @OUSDNews We have a high influx of calls that are jamming up our phone lines right now. People are getting through to us. Be patient and be persistent. We appreciate you and thank you for understanding.
In April, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a $75 million state fund for this project, and it makes California the first state in the country to give aid directly to undocumented people during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Here is California’s guide for all immigrants during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Copyright 2020 KQED