Looking ahead: Central Valley Matters’ grassroots partners
Remember the Blue Wave of 2018? California flipped seven congressional seats. 2026 must be our next big wave…even more is at stake this time.
Our grassroots groups are devising smarter and more intense efforts to educate CD22 residents and counter the massive false propaganda prevalent there.
Early monthly donations to them will give us the win!
We met with our grassroots groups to talk about their current plans.
Here is a brief rundown:
Community Water Center (CWC) and its Community Center Action Fund (CWCAF), working in Tulare and Kern Counties, want to begin direct, hard-hitting messages on values and issues that will wake people up to vote for their own community’s interests. Most of all, they need clean water. CWC/CWCAF’s messages need more visibility now and year-round: messaging only a few months before elections is just plain ineffective. Ultimately, these value messages benefit the candidates because people identify the message with the candidate who aligns with them. CWC/CWCAF sees changeable digital billboards as an effective way to reach a captive audience of drivers on highly traveled local roads and highways: it’s a mass-messaging opportunity. They are aware that some people just don’t answer texts, phones, or doors. This program could start now.
Delano Guardians (DG), working in Delano and Kern Counties, has activism in its genes. In 2025 DG will focus on three things: (1) helping undocumented residents learn their rights, (2) voter registration and (3) voter education.
DG is ramping up to help undocumented residents who need to know their constitutional rights and how to become citizens. That helps demonstrate to family members who are citizens just how important their voices are — and their votes. Educating CD22 residents on the importance of voter registration takes time, which DG will do by phone banking, social media, billboards, home visits, town halls, and yard signs. DG also focuses on bringing youth into active roles, as we saw in their recent mobilization of Shafter residents to defeat a state plan that would have increased pollution in local areas.
The Dolores Huerta Foundation (DHF) and its Dolores Huerta Action Fund (DHAF) is on the front lines in Kern and Tulare Counties. They are protesting and sending messages to residents about the cuts coming to Medi-Cal and tax cuts for billionaires. They are also organizing rapid response teams to help undocumented people know their constitutional rights if they are confronted by ICE. DHF and DHAF are on the ground, with new organizers in the field: two in Kern County (Bakersfield and north Kern), one in Tulare and one in Fresno.
LOUD For Tomorrow and LOUD For Tomorrow Action Fund are youth-led powerhouse transforming California's Central Valley through young leaders’ organizing, community healing, and policy advocacy. Born from the determination of young people in Delano who refused to accept the status quo, LOUD has rapidly emerged as a catalytic force in a region long overlooked. LOUD’s work reaches across Kern and Tulare Counties, where rural QTBIPOC youth are building a movement that interweaves cultural organizing, healing justice, and political power-building in ways uniquely tailored to rural realities. For 2025, LOUD has set an ambitious goal to engage 7,000 residents through targeted canvassing around three community-identified priorities that resonate with younger voters: housing justice, wellness, and economic mobility.
Valley Voices, serving the Central Valley Tri-County area of Kings, Tulare and Fresno, has set priorities for immigrant education, voter registration and education, and workers' rights. They engage the community through 17 recurring events each month. The team meets people at flea markets, grocery stores, and churches to provide vital resources, including food, COVID and flu vaccinations, and mental health information. Additionally, the group is partnering with local immigrant advocacy organizations to host “Know Your Rights” workshops. Recognizing the barriers that prevent legal permanent residents from becoming U.S. citizens, Valley Voices has applied for a grant to help the 6,818 eligible green card holders in Kings County (part of the 46,901 in CD22) overcome financial and other obstacles to naturalization so they can vote. This critical and innovative plan is designed to create new voters, as newly naturalized citizens are more likely to participate in elections.