On Saturday, February 28, Milpitas nonprofit Hope for the Unhoused (H4U), in partnership with Working Partnerships USA and Randall Elementary School, hosted a Lunar New Year Resource Fair in Randall’s gym, offering attendees Medi-Cal Information & Enrollment resources, Immigration Support, Housing Information, and more.
Vendors from various public and community organizations sat behind rows of tables offering info for those in need of health, immigration, and housing support. Among the many vendors were Indian Health Center of Santa Clara Valley, Gardner Health Services, and Santa Clara County Library District.
Musical performers Tzu Chi took to the stage and opened the proceedings with an evocative, soulful performance.
California State Assemblymember Alex Lee, donning red Chinese Lunar New Year garb, took to the mic before the musical performance and said, “Since this Lunar New Year is the Year of the Fire Horse, it is the year for many new goals and many new ambitions, and a lot of folks need a lot of help to succeed in those ambitions, so I appreciate Working Partnerships USA for doing this with Hope for the Unhoused.”
In an interview with The Milpitas Beat, Working Partnerships USA Associate Director of Care Policy Jaria Jaug explained how the goal of the fair was to ensure that people understand their options and rights in the midst of rapidly changing health, housing, and immigration policies: “We have a lot of booths here from a bunch of different clinics that can provide free resources for any income level. And also we have different government agencies here to teach people about the services that they provide,” Jaug explained.
She went on to share that many of the immigrants in attendance were concerned about no longer having access to full-scope Medi-Cal. On January 1 of this year, citing budget constraints, the State of California downgraded many immigrants from having full-scope Medi-Cal access to emergency Medi-Cal access. And come July 1, various tiers of immigrants without “satisfactory immigration status” (per California standards) will no longer have access to Medi-Cal-derived dental care.
Jaug further highlighted “the fear of ICE coming into our communities” as being widespread among our local immigrant population.
In addition to the performance, speakers, and vendors, breakout sessions were held at the fair to educate those in attendance.
Learn more about Hope for the Unhoused here. And find out more about Working Partnerships USA here.