Voto Latino Foundation's Immigrant Neighbor Fund Strengthened by Jack Dorsey Investment

WASHINGTON, March 22, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Voto Latino Foundation is proud to announce that its Immigrant Neighbor Fund is further advancing with a $1 million investment by Jack Dorsey's #StartSmall philanthropic initiative.

The Immigrant Neighbor Fund was established in 2020 and was seeded initially by East West Bank to provide direct financial support to families excluded from receiving COVID-19 relief funds from the CARES Act. Those excluded include the very people who are holding the U.S. economy together through their work in the service industries, as frontline healthcare professionals, and as agricultural workers.

"This pandemic has caused death and devastation among our country's most vulnerable, and they need and deserve support from all of us in order to survive," said Voto Latino co-founding president and CEO, María Teresa Kumar. "We are grateful for Jack Dorsey's #StartSmall contribution, and those of all our donors, big and small. The outpouring of support puts into stark relief Congress's wicked CARES Act, which blocked 20 percent of the Latino workforce from receiving relief when they most needed it."

A recent study commissioned by Voto Latino showed that, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, more than 40 percent of Latinos have lost some or all their wages and have struggled to afford rent, mortgage, groceries and other bills. In addition, 40 percent of respondents said they also lost some or all of their savings.

"When 60 percent of Latinos are under 34 years old, many of them will have missed out on some of their best earning years, sowing potential future negative repercussions for those families and the U.S. economy," Kumar concludes.

To donate to or apply for a grant from the Immigrant Neighbor Fund, please visit www.immigrantneighborfund.org.

Voto Latino Foundation (VLF) is the largest Latinx voter registration organization in the country. VLF is a non-profit, non-partisan 501(c)(3) organization centered around Latinx youth predicated on their influence in their households and their sheer numbers. 66% of Latinos in the US are under the age of 33 and will propel the Latinx electorate to be the second largest voting block for the first time in 2020. VLF is among the top 10 voter registration outfits in the nation and the only Latinx organization on the list.

#StartSmall is Jack Dorsey's philanthropic initiative to fund global COVID-19 relief, girls health and education, and efforts towards Universal Basic Income. Dorsey transferred $1 billion (28% of his wealth) to #StartSmall in 2020.

SOURCE Voto Latino