Help us keep the dream of citizenship going strong.

The One Napa Valley Initiative we launched in 2013 is creating new citizens and a stronger community. Today, nearly 2,400 hardworking Napa community members have become American citizens, and 500 more have submitted their applications and are preparing for their final step, the citizenship exam, as we speak.

As citizens, they have more opportunities. Higher family income, deeper involvement in civic affairs, and better school outcomes for their children.

With support from generous donors like you, the Foundation issues annual grants totaling $200,000 to four local nonprofits that make the dream of citizenship a reality for our neighbors. But while our financial commitment to this project is steadfast and significant, other sources of state and local funding have been cut, creating a budget gap of almost $400,000 as of July 1.

Thanks to a small but mighty group of longtime supporters, we have put together a matching gift pool of $300,000, which means any gift you can make before June 30 will be matched dollar-for-dollar up to that amount to help us fully fund the Initiative. Importantly, this matching gift is in addition to the substantial funding NVCF provides as core program support to our nonprofit partners each year.

Will you please make a gift today to help sustain this critical program?

Before ONVI came along, fewer than 10 Napa County residents became citizens each year. Today, 15 to 20 people naturalize each month, and it will be a dark day for upward mobility if we can’t rally to plug these funding holes, particularly if the climate for immigrants becomes dramatically more hostile in November.