As demand surged by 31 percent, Puertas Abiertas Community Resource Center remained a trusted first stop for Napa County’s Latino and immigrant families.
It was a year of change for Puertas Abiertas Community Resource Center: a leadership transition, a move into a new building, and — in the middle of it all — a wave of community need unlike any the organization had seen.
Puertas Abiertas is a trusted resource for Napa County’s Latino and immigrant families, offering everything from health-coverage referrals to family support to cultural wellness programs — all delivered by a small, deeply committed team of seven.
Thanks to a grant from NVCF’s Elaine Jones Safety Net Fund — $100,000 for general operating support and $50,000 for capacity building — Puertas Abiertas was able to step up in a year of surging demand and shifting funding, and to invest in the systems that will keep it strong for years to come.
“The difference between how many people we used to serve on average was about 3,500,” says Executive Director Esmeralda “Esme” Gil. “When we ended the fiscal year, our numbers were 4,600. A 31% increase is a huge jump — and we did it with the same amount of staff.”
People turned to Puertas Abiertas for everything from the simple to the life-altering: a question about whether to keep their Medi-Cal plan, help after a parent was detained and a young adult was suddenly caring for younger siblings. People continue to come back, or recommend the agency to friends and neighbors, because Puertas Abiertas is where they feel safe. “People come to us first, because they feel safe here and they know we can connect them to resources they can trust,” Gil says.
Over the last two years, Puertas Abiertas has lost dedicated funding for specific programs, so their unrestricted grant from the Safety Net Fund helped fill the gaps — including for La Cultura Cura, a wellness program that seniors kept asking for and that had lost its funding entirely. “We wouldn’t cut programs, because they’re valuable to the community,” Gil says of the programs on the line — “but we would have had to pause them.” Receiving the grant meant nothing had to stop. It was, in her words, something the team could “fall back on” to feel stable while other sources of support crumbled away.
The capacity building grant did something a single year of funding rarely does — it keeps paying off. Puertas Abiertas split the grant in two. One half strengthened the organization’s fund development, bringing on grantwriting support. That investment of roughly $25,000 helped Puertas Abiertas secure approximately $260,000 in new funding for its new building — money it had never before had the capacity to pursue. “Working with a grant writer really helped build my capacity for bringing in more funding,” Gil says. “We were able to secure a lot more funding that we’d never applied for in the past.”
The other half went to Board governance, with a consultant we helped connect them to. The goal was to move a hands-on board into a more strategic role — and it worked. “They feel a lot more comfortable stepping up into leadership,” Gil says, “instead of being in the weeds of day-to-day operations.” It’s the kind of foundational work that’s easy to defer forever: “We wouldn’t have focused on that if we didn’t have the funding. We would have put it off for probably another year.”
Gil is clear-eyed about what comes next. Puertas Abiertas brought in over $1 million this year — but much of it was one-time, restricted funding tied to the building. The gap in flexible, everyday operating support is real, which is why the team keeps working to diversify revenue for the long haul. Support like this is a lifeline as more and more of the community turns to Puertas Abiertas first — and it’s exactly the kind of steady, flexible backing the Elaine Jones Safety Net Fund was created to provide.
Why the Elaine Jones Safety Net Fund Matters
The Elaine Jones Safety Net Fund was created by Napa Valley Community Foundation to help Napa County nonprofits continue providing essential services during a period of rising demand, increasing costs, and uncertain public funding.
In its first year, the Fund invested $1.65 million in 15 local organizations through a combination of flexible operating support and capacity-building grants – helping nonprofits serve today’s needs while preparing for tomorrow’s challenges.
Learn more or support the Fund at napavalleycf.org/safetynet.