The Southwest Cluster

Frank Sanchez, Senior Program Officer

The Southwest Cluster consists of Southern California, Arizona, New Mexico and southern Texas, including San Antonio. Applicants located in this area should apply by the January deadline.

Overall, the Southwest has one of the fastest growing populations in the country. All the states within the cluster have experienced significant increases in their populations. These increases can be attributed to the migration of people from other states and immigrants from Mexico, Latin America, and Asia seeking jobs and economic opportunity.

What is most significant about this increase in population is the dramatic shift in the racial and ethnic composition of the region. California and New Mexico are now “majority minority” states. It is estimated that within 30 years people of color will be the majority in the region, with Latinos becoming the single largest population in the region.

The Southwest cluster offers The Needmor Fund an opportunity to focus on a dynamic region, one that is undergoing a dramatic shift in population and will have lasting implications for the rest of the nation. This shift in population is a window into what most of the nation will look like in one hundred years. It is where the global economy is in clear view, leaving winners and losers in its path. It is where interdependence between two nations, with vastly different economies, is growing. It is where a young immigrant population is emerging and is bringing change and new vitality to the region.

Throughout the Southwest, community organizations that represent low- and moderate-income communities face a host of issues and challenges. Millions of people in the region have no health care coverage. Affordable housing is scarce. The infrastructure of many inner-city neighborhoods, barrios, and rural communities is substandard. Students of color drop out of school at a disproportionately high rate. Disparity in income is increasing and many families are relegated to low-wage jobs.

In the Southwest cluster, many opportunities exist to work with and fund community organizations that represent low- and moderate-income communities. Funding decisions in the cluster are based on the values and criteria of The Needmor Fund. We support community organizations with a deep commitment to engaging low- and moderate-income communities in public life and the democratic process. We support community organizations that are multi-issue, have a strong membership base, and have a strategy to reduce the growing disparities in income. We support community organizations that organize to lift low-wage workers out of poverty.