About PUCDC
The Eastern Coachella Valley is comprised of four unincorporated rural communities: Thermal, Oasis, Mecca and North Shore. The large majority of residents are agricultural worker families and they represent the local labor force that contributes approximately $700 million a year in agriculture to the region. Farm workers constitute the backbone of our national food system sustainability. But despite their remarkable contribution, these hard working communities live in pervasive poverty lacking decent affordable housing, economic opportunities, and community resilience to climate change. These challenges to health and economic well being continue to plague our local communities whose residents work the fields. The mobile home communities are known locally as “Polanco parks,” named for Richard Polanco, a state representative who sponsored 1992 legislation to spur the creation of affordable housing for farmworkers.
Pueblo Unido Community Development Corporation (PUCDC) is a (501)(c)(3) tax-exempt non-profit organization born from the initiative of community leaders with extensive experience and knowledge of these local issues and concerns in the rural Eastern Coachella Valley. Pueblo Unido CDC has been a leader in social justice change for over 15 years and has helped shape the platform for partner organizations and new developing organizations to continue building on those successes. With the persistence of the organization, the ECV farmworker community has benefited from continued equitable progress towards a brighter future and has paved a path for a healthy and sustainable community in the Eastern Coachella Valley.
Pueblo Unido CDC was founded in 2008 by Sergio Carranza, current Executive Director, and the late Rodolfo Piñon, Co-Founder and first Chair of the Board of Directors. Prior to founding Pueblo Unido, Sergio Carranza was an advocate for social and civil rights in his native country of El Salvador. His involvement with local social justice ministries made him aware of the profound social and economic disparities in the ECV. Soon he realized there was a real need to listen to the community, and concluded he could affect meaningful change by modeling initiatives on a community-driven perspective. Our goal remains the same regardless of our past success: to bring equity into the community and create the best present and future for the families we represent. Through continued partnerships and support from elected officials, government entities, community members and funding partners, we hope to create new opportunities that work at solving social issues that inequitably impact ECV farmworker families, including the severe affordable housing crisis and impacts of climate change.
Community Driven Model
PUCDC Landmark Accomplishments Benefiting Polanco Communities
2008
- Founders: Sergio Carranza and Rodolfo Piñon
- Mission identified and adopted by Board of Directors
- Articles of Incorporation
2009
- IRS Tax Exemption
- New Model for Community-driven Projects
- Opened a bank account with $250.00
- Secured the first $150,000 for core operation
- Polanco Communities engagement begins
2010
- Opened for Business
- Saint Antonio Del Desierto MHP LLC Management Contract
- Polanco Communities Safe Drinking Water Projects begins
- Communidades de salud (CODESA) Training/Education Program
- Polanco priorities identified: Infrastructure and Affordable Housing
2011
- Lift Station Project at Saint Anthony MHP LLC
- San Jose Community Center Construction Project
- Fire Suppression & Water Project at San Jose Community Center
- Polanco Rehabilitation Assistance Program (PRAP)
2013
- Sewage & Well Construction Project at Saint Anthony MHP LLC
- Rural Infrastructure Fund (RIF)
- 1st Annual Michael Rosenfeld Children’s Fundraiser
2014
- Introduced AB434 Permanent Infrastructure of Point-of-Use (POE) Water filtration
- Community Park & Garden Project at Saint Anthony MHP LLC
- Agua 4 ALL Campaign led to SB 828, drinking water for schools
- Rodolfo Piñon Scholarship created
- Leveraged $2.6 Million for ECV Mobile Home street paving
2016
- Electrical Stabilization at Saint Anthony MHP LLC
- Polanco Mobile Home Park Paving Project
- 1st Annual Fiesta Del Pueblo
- Secured $2.2 Million for technical assistance to spearhead water and sewer consolidation
2018
- Introduced AB 2056 to Improve Mobile Homes parks making available $20 Million for MHP Rehabilitation and Purchase
- Leadership Development Program/Youth Leadership Institute
- Rural Community Investment Fund (RCIF)
- $4 Million Saint Anthony MHP LLC and Huerta MHP Improve Drinking Water and Sewer consolidation
2019
- Rural Habitat: Agri-Housing Affordable Housing Program
- Unión de Polancos – Nonprofit 501(c)(3)
2020–2021
- COVID Pandemic Response: PPE and Food distribution to over 2,000 families
- Secured $2.3 Million for Interim Drinking Water Program
2022
- $2.7 Million for ECV Water Infrastructure Project
- El Milagro Farms LLC Planning Phase
- Community Toy Drive (5,000+ toys to 370+ children)
- Fire Safety Equipment Project (150+ homes)
2023–2024
- Climate Change – Afforestation Tree Planning Project
- Completion of first Agri-Housing Project using Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs)
- Platinum Transparency Seal (Candid)
- $30 Million Saint Anthony Mobile Home Park Consolidation Project
PUCDC has leveraged $63 Million to benefit ECV since 2010
Pueblo Unido Staff
PUCDC staff share the Executive Director’s belief that communities are the best judges of how their lives and livelihoods can be improved and, if provided with adequate resources and information, they can organize themselves to provide for their immediate needs. PUCDC staff (100% Latinx/Hispanic) have also experienced, directly or indirectly, the impacts of systemic racism, inequities in housing, access to financing, jobs, wages, etc. Their lived experience is culturally interwoven with the multigenerational challenges, strong family values, resilience, entrepreneurial spirit, and needs for health equity, environmental justice, and relief from pervasive systemic poverty they and/or their families shared with the communities they now serve.
Board of Directors
Monica Vazquez
Secretary
Victor Gonzalez
Vice President
Morelia Baltazar
Member at Large
Alejandro Espinoza
Member at Large
Martha Barragan
President
Joe Ceja
Treasurer
Juan Carlos Sanchez
Member at Large
Staff Members
Pueblo Unido Staff
Monica Vazquez
Secretary
Morelia Baltazar
Member at Large
Alejandro Espinoza
Member at Large
Martha Barragan
President
Victor Gonzales
Vice President
Joe Ceja
Treasurer
Pueblo Unido Staff
Monica Vazquez
Secretary
Morelia Baltazar
Member at Large
Alejandro Espinoza
Member at Large
Martha Barragan
President
Victor Gonzales
Vice President
Joe Ceja
Treasurer
Pueblo Unido CDC Community Funding Partners
Financials
Below are PUCDC’s Audited Financial Statements and Form 990, which are annual financial reports that federally tax-exempt organizations must file with the IRS. It provides information on our mission, programs, and finances. Public Inspection IRC 6104(d) regulations state that an organization must provide copies of its three most recent Form 990s to anyone who requests them, whether in person, by mail, fax, or e-mail. In addition, the reports can also be accessed independently on Guidestar and at the Foundation Center 990 Finder.
Check out Pueblo Unido CDC on Guidestar to see the great work we do for our community.
We want to make sure you have the information you need to confidently support our work with trust and confidence.