Dear Friends,
Since I wrote last fall, immigrant communities throughout the country have continued to suffer heartbreaking and terrifying raids, family separations, and illegal and inhumane treatment. As an immigrant-serving organization working under an increasingly aggressive anti-immigrant federal administration, we find ourselves more devoted than ever to our mission.
Thanks to you — our most generous and steadfast supporters and partners — and to our dedicated staff and board of directors, we have made remarkable progress since last fall to address these new challenges while continuing to advance long-term stability through direct services and systems change. Though distinct in focus, the below initiatives advance one shared strategy: creating lasting stability and belonging for Latino and immigrant families by redesigning systems to work more equitably and sustainably.
Today, I am pleased to share updates about our recent efforts to advance the following goals:
- Expanding access to affordable housing,
- Adding capacity to provide immigration legal services,
- Increasing choice and access to food and services for the community,
- Championing climate resiliency planning,
- Elevating Latino identity and belonging through art,
- Increasing support and visibility for small business owners, and
- Testing models for climate resiliency on the Canal shoreline.
Expanding Affordable Housing Through Strategic Acquisition and Preservation
I am proud to share that Canal Alliance has launched an Affordable Housing Resource Pool to support our efforts to preserve affordable housing in Marin County. Canal Alliance’s affordable housing strategy is focused specifically on preservation as the fastest, most cost-effective and most viable solution in Marin’s limited housing landscape.
Canal Alliance is uniquely positioned to steward this strategy responsibly and at scale — ensuring Marin is a place where low-income families and essential workers who already live and work in Marin can continue to live, work and raise their families. In this way, our preservation efforts represent not just a housing strategy, but a strategy to maintain community stability, preserve the local workforce, and support the local economy.
With much of Marin restricted from development and virtually no housing options available for households earning less than $65,000, preserving existing housing is one of the most powerful tools we have. Through this initiative, Canal Alliance will acquire smaller‑scale multifamily properties and convert them from market‑rate to permanently affordable homes as we did at 1400 Lincoln Street.
Recognizing the need to act quickly to preserve what housing already exists and to prevent displacement of low-income families and workers, the Affordable Housing Resource Pool will allow us to respond with urgency in acquiring properties when such opportunities for housing preservation would otherwise be lost. Our goal is to secure $10 million in grants and loans to provide flexible, patient capital that allows Canal Alliance to act quickly in a highly competitive real estate market. We are extremely grateful to The San Francisco Foundation for providing an initial seed loan of $2 million. I welcome a conversation with anyone interested in investing in or learning more about the resource pool.
Growing Support for Community: Immigration Legal Services Expansion
As I shared in my update last fall, Canal Alliance aims to expand our Immigration Legal Services (ILS) department to meet growing need. As the political and anti‑immigrant climate continues to harden, the urgency to do so has only intensified.
Today, I am grateful to report meaningful progress. With support from Marin Community Foundation, we have hired a public charge attorney, strengthening our ability to protect families and provide clear, trusted legal counsel. At the same time, we continue to increase our outreach and education efforts. As an example, your support is allowing us toinvestin community safety through Whistlemania, a community–driven rapid–response and neighborhood awareness initiative we are engaging in alongside partners in cities like Chicago and Minneapolis.
But meeting the scale and complexity of current and future demand will continue to require more capacity. Our next priority is to add a staff attorney dedicated to coordinating pro bono legal support, expanding representation through partnerships with private law firms.
Be the reason someone gets the legal support they deserve. Help us close the gap.
Demand for Immigration Legal Services is rising – and we’re ready to meet it. By adding a dedicated staff attorney to coordinate pro bono partnerships, we can provide more people with access to trusted legal representation.
We’re nearly halfway toward our goal to fund the position for two years and need just $139,000 more to cover the first two years of costs for this new expansion.
To make a gift or learn more contact Sara Matson, Chief Development Officer, at 415-306-0429 or via email using the button below.
Creating Opportunities for Local Vendors
On Sunday, May 17, from 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM, our Economic Development team will host our inaugural Small Business Marketplace, a vibrant outdoor celebration of local Latino entrepreneurs from across Marin County. The event builds on our entrepreneurship programs, which equip clients with the skills needed to start and grow small businesses — through training in financial planning, marketing, operations, and guidance on navigating legal requirements and building networks. Because we know that financial stability is essential to a successful, safe life.
So bring your family and friends to this free, public event. It will be a joyful day of community and celebration at Canal Alliance, complete with music, delicious food and drinks, and unique products from local Latino‑owned businesses. It will be a chance to shop locally, celebrate culture, and support the Latino entrepreneurs who help our community thrive.
Elevating Community Identity and Belonging Through Two New Rooftop Murals
I am excited to share that also on Sunday, May 17 at 2:00 PM, Canal Alliance will partner with Canal Arts to host a celebration of the completion of Phase II of our rooftop mural project at 711 Grand Avenue. The final two murals in our headquarters mural series to be unveiled that day will build on our original two murals, Threads of Unity, to further reflect our mission and honor the lived experiences of Marin’s Latino immigrant community by representing stories of migration, resilience, and belonging. We are grateful to Canal Arts, which has committed half of the total project cost to develop and install these new murals.
More than artwork, these rooftop murals will be a powerful visual expression of who we are and what we stand for — breaking barriers, building opportunity, and honoring the cultural roots that shape our community’s story. Through our partnership with Canal Arts, completing this four‑mural series will further transform our headquarters into a civic landmark that reflects the strength, diversity, history, and future of the Canal community. We hope you will join us to celebrate the installation of these final two murals.
Small Business Marketplace & Mural Unveiling Celebration
Sunday, May 17, 2026
- 11:00 AM – 3:00 PM Small Business Marketplace
- 2:00 PM Canal Arts Mural Unveiling Celebration
Canal Alliance Headquarters
711 Grand Avenue, San Rafael
Increasing Food Access: Community Market Under Development
Canal Alliance, in partnership with the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank and ExtraFood, has been awarded a $95,000 Marin County FARE Grant to plan the development of a Community Market at our 91 Larkspur Street location — an important expansion of our food pantry and food access services. The concept of the community market, which centers respect for participants and the power of choice, was developed by the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank together with trusted community partners to address hunger and its root causes. Designed to resemble grocery stores, community markets are open multiple days each week to provide greater access than most food pantries and allow participants to select the food they bring home. Another key feature is pairing food access with other services to create a more seamless and holistic experience for participants.
This planning effort builds on years of community feedback and partnership with the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank and ExtraFood, and responds directly to what residents have consistently told us they need: reliable access to healthy food, extended availability that works for people balancing multiple jobs, and a client choice model that preserves dignity and agency. The FARE grant will support feasibility, design, and sustainability planning to ensure the community market strengthens and complements our existing programs, while allowing us to distribute more food more consistently. By leveraging our longstanding partnerships with agencies focused on alleviating hunger and food security, Canal Alliance is well-positioned to improve food access in ways that support household stability and build economic resilience for Canal neighborhood families.
Championing Climate Resiliency Planning for the Canal and Greater Marin
This past winter, Marin County and the Canal neighborhood saw heavy rain and devastating flooding. Winter storms and high tides made clear what Canal residents have long known: sea‑level rise is not a distant or isolated threat but a present‑day reality with far‑reaching consequences. The impacts of the flooding rippled well beyond any one Marin neighborhood — disrupting traffic on Highway 101, knocking out countywide 911 services, and exposing how deeply interconnected Marin’s systems truly are.
In the Canal, families faced flooded homes, damaged vehicles, and unsafe living conditions, all without the financial cushion needed to recover. Thanks to a grant of $25,000 from Marin Community Foundation, we were able to support impacted residents. Yet these events continue to underscore that protecting the Canal is not only a matter of neighborhood resilience, but of safeguarding Marin’s economic, emergency, and transportation systems overall.
While the road ahead remains long and complex, I am heartened by the growing collaboration, public attention, thoughtful press, and coordinated action this challenge is now receiving. As I shared in a Marin Voice article in the Marin Independent Journal, addressing sea‑level rise requires new thinking, shared responsibility, and solutions that center the lived experiences of those most impacted. By working together — and by ensuring that community voices shape decisions early — we have an opportunity to build resilience without displacement and chart a safer, more equitable future for the Canal neighborhood and all of Marin.
Transforming the Canal Shoreline at Our Headquarters
I am delighted to share that as part of the Healthy Canal Initiative, the shoreline of the San Rafael Creek behind our headquarters at 711 Grand Avenue will be transformed into a vibrant living landscape. This project reimagines the canal as a place of connection, restoration, and everyday renewal. Floating habitats, inviting overlooks, and improvements along the canal’s edge — including in the inlet between our two headquarters buildings — will become a lush ecosystem that supports wildlife, fosters environmental learning, and offers staff, clients, and community members a welcoming outdoor space.
The project matters now because the San Rafael Canal is approaching a critical threshold for sea level rise impacts. A City of San Rafael Sea Level Rise Adaptation report identifies the canal as nearing a tipping point for overtopping during routine high tides and emphasizes the need for near term “Initial Actions,” including pilot scale nature-based interventions. The pilot project for this initiative has been funded in part by an anonymous investor, and will be built and monitored by Bionic and Rich Storek Architecture in partnership with Canal residents to advance a proof of concept that generates applied ecological and community data to inform equitable, resilient shoreline adaptation, while serving as a hands-on education and stewardship hub for the Canal community. This work will bring together residents, designers, environmental experts, and education partners, such as College of Marin, to demonstrate what is possible when climate adaptation is rooted in people and place. Through this initiative, the canal will become more than infrastructure — it will become a shared community asset that can nurture resilience, belonging, and well-being.
As a generous investor and partner in our mission and programs, I want to reiterate my gratitude and appreciation for your support of Canal Alliance, our mission, and the Latino community. I invite you to contact me to learn more about the news shared in this letter. To schedule a visit or tour, please contact me directly or reach out to Jennifer Caynan, Senior Manager of Leadership Giving, at [email protected].
You make our progress and success possible. Thank you for everything that you do to make Marin a place where everyone can live, learn, work, and succeed.
Gracias,
Omar Carrera
Chief Executive Officer
Corporate Match or Sponsorship: Double your impact!
Many employers match charitable gifts, and some offer sponsorship opportunities that support nonprofit organizations like Canal Alliance.
To explore what’s possible, contact your employer’s Human Resources department to see if they will match your giving to Canal Alliance.
Have questions? Please contact Jennifer Caynan at 415-873-1049 or via email using the button below.