IN THE NEWS

Half Moon Bay, CA —  February 6, 2026 —   A Bay Area–based delegation led by   Ayudando Latinos A Soñar (ALAS) , in partnership with Bay Area Border Relief, Latino Community Foundation, and faculty from the University of San Francisco , has returned from Minneapolis, Minnesota, where they stood in solidarity with Twin Cities communities responding to the ongoing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) crisis.  The delegation included social workers, psychologists, educators

One of Only Five Organizations Selected Nationwide, ALAS to Pilot New Model with Stanford University School of Medicine Centered on "Cultura Cura" Half Moon Bay, CA – November 25, 2025 –   Out of more than 300 applicants, Ayudando Latinos a Soñar  (ALAS) was selected as one of only five organizations in the U.S. to receive a prestigious $200,000 national research grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation  to advance the Colibrí Child Wellness Program  (CCWP). CCWP is a co

DA’s Office led prosecution against operator at HMB farm withholding wages By Holly Rusch, Daily Journal staff Dec 1, 2025 Workers at Earthvine Grower, an aquaponics farm in Half Moon Bay. Yelp.com Last year, Gabriel Reyes was working at Earthvine Grower, an aquaponics farm in Half Moon Bay. From August 2024 to January 2025, $10,242 in checks written to him for his labor bounced, and $1,268 owed to his wife, Ofelia, for work with the same company was never paid.  Without paym

Xol Venegas wears handmade butterfly gloves at the Oakland Día de los Muertos Festival in Fruitvale in 2023. Día de los Muertos remains her favorite holiday.  (Estefany Gonzalez for KQED) Blanca Torres Nov 12, 2025 Updated 1:16 pm PT This story was reported for K Onda KQED, a monthly newsletter focused on the Bay Area’s Latinx community. Click here to subscribe . I had planned to spend Nov. 1, a Saturday, cleaning and organizing my house. Then my friend Susie Sanchez-Young, o

7 nov 2025 Terisa Estacio of KRON 4 News interviews Dr. Belinda Hernandez Arriaga, Founder and CEO of ALAS. This report was for Hispanic Heritage Month

By Jessica Flores ,Staff Writer Oct 28, 2025 Jill Valavanis, visual arts director of the Sonoma Community Center, prepares to add a photo of Evelyn Berger to the facility’s outdoor Day of the Dead altar Wednesday. Yalonda M. James/S.F. Chronicle Lingering apprehension trailing behind last week’s threat of a major immigration enforcement crackdown in the Bay Area will have a marked effect on Día de los Muertos celebrations this year. Across the region, some event organizers ca

Many details still debated By Ashton J. Hacke Oct 17, 2025 Updated Oct 26, 2025 1 Half Moon Bay and Mercy Housing continue to discuss details before reaching an agreement on lease of 555 Kelly Ave. Courtesy of Half Moon Bay After 15 months of negotiations over the terms of a lease agreement with Mercy Housing for city-owned land at 555 Kelly Ave., the Half Moon Bay City Council heard public input on Thursday evening, Oct. 16, and then directed staff to begin drafting portion

by: Stephanie Rothman Posted: Oct 16, 2025 / 10:18 PM PDT Updated: Oct 17, 2025 / 01:25 PM PDT ( KRON ) — A special city council meeting was held in Half Moon Bay Thursday to discuss a proposal for housing elderly farmworkers. Mercy Housing, a nonprofit organization, plans to build 40 apartment units for retired farm workers, ranging from studios to two-bedroom apartments, along with several community spaces. “Since our last meeting, we’ve secured over $13 million from the ho

Half Moon Bay, California — October 9, 2025 — Dr. Belinda Hernández-Arriaga, Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of ALAS (Ayudando Latinos A Soñar), has just returned from Rome, where she and a delegation of five ALAS staff members met with Pope Leo XIV on October 2 to join global leaders in dialogue about the future of migrant and refugee justice.

October 6, 2025 SACRAMENTO, CA  — The Governor has signed into law a bill expanding mobile telehealthcare access for farmworkers in rural California. The bill was inspired by Aisha Baro , Executive Director of Life Science Cares Bay Area, whose winning idea in this year’s Senate District 13 “There Ought to be a Law” (OBAL) competition became the foundation of SB 338. SB 338 establishes the Virtual Health Hub for Rural Communities Pilot Program within the Department of Health

Music Cures: The Healing Power of the Accordion After a Shooting

By Julieta Martinelli and Erica Hellerstein Oct 3, 2025 California Family Health Immigration Music This story was produced in collaboration with El Tímpano , a civic media organization serving and covering the Bay Area’s Latino and Mayan immigrant communities. Original reporting of this story can be found here and here . A farmworker opened fire at two farms in Half Moon Bay, California, in January 2023. He killed seven men, six co-workers and a supervisor, all immigrants.

Primarily immigrant, Latino clientele facing increased fear and isolation By Holly Rusch, Daily Journal staff Sep 27, 2025 0 At cultural and mental health nonprofit Ayudando Latinos A Soñar , requests for mental health support from the group’s primarily Latino, immigrant coastside clientele have increased amidst increasingly aggressive anti-immigrant rhetoric and deportation efforts.  Over the past few months, the four full-time therapists and five doctoral and master’s stude

by Angela Swartz | Sep 10, 2025 Belinda Hernandez-Arriaga. Photo: ALAS Relentless misfortunes have impacted coastal farmworkers in recent years — climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic, a mass shooting at a mushroom farm with “ deplorable living conditions ,” and more.  That’s where leaders like Belinda Hernandez-Arriaga, executive director of ALAS (Ayudando Latinos A Soñar), are trying to fill gaps in health, immigration, and education services for Latinos in Half Moon Bay

September 8, 2025 by Diana Garcia A community impact report highlighting our nutrition education work with farmworkers Our inspiration for creating this report was to share learnings from a pilot program we launched in partnership with Ayudando Latinos a Soñar (ALAS) to provide nutrition resources for farmworkers. Uplifting stories of trust, hope and newfound friendships emerged along the journey of building deeper connections with our local farmworkers. We hope this report i

by Erica Hellerstein August 1, 2025 Pedro Perez, a farmworker from Mexico, and other farmworkers take accordion classes with Hernan Hernandez, the son of famed musician Hernan Hernandez of Tigres del Norte on September 11, 2024. Credit: Hiram Alejandro Durán for El Tímpano/Catchlight/Report for America corps member Welcome to El Tímpano’s Weekly Dispatch. I’m Erica Hellerstein, senior immigration, labor and economics reporter. In 2011, Belinda Hernandez-Arriaga saw a perplexi

HALF MOON BAY, CA — ALAS ( Ayudando Latinos A Soñar ) invites media to experience El Jardín Summer Camp 2025, a vibrant, four-week program designed to uplift and engage Coastside children and families through arts, STEM, literacy, wellness, social-emotional learning (SEL) and community-based learning.  This free summer camp creates a joyful, inclusive space for children entering grades 1 through 7 — especially from underserved backgrounds—to explore music, dance, art, STEM, a

What: Santa Cruz Warriors Día de las Madres (Mother’s Day) / Farmworker Appreciation Event Who:            Santa Cruz Warriors Front Office ALAS (Ayudando Latinos A Soñar) Staff Members Modelo Staff Members When:          Friday, May 9, 2025   11:00 am - 12:45 pm Where:         ALAS Headquarters (11:00 am - 12:00 pm) 636 Purissima Street Half Moon Bay, CA 94019 Cal Coast Orchids (12:10 PM – 12:45 PM) 2135 S Cabrillo Highway Half Moon Bay, CA 94019 Media Contacts :        Sant

The accolades along Hernandez-Arriaga’s wall are proof enough that the Latino cultural arts and programming organization’s mental-health focused, culturally-based approach to providing services and building community on the coastside has been successful.  ALAS serves roughly 350 families every two weeks, offering free legal consultations, mental health services, a food pantry, after-school tutoring and even a bus, dubbed the equity express, that brings those services out to

The Stanford-ALAS partnership began as a 2020 clinical collaboration in Half Moon Bay and now supports both care and advocacy in that...

Press Conference and Community Vigil to Address Housing, Immigration, and Inequities While Honoring the Victims and Families Half Moon Bay, California –  On   January 24, 2025, Ayudando Latinos a Soñar (ALAS) and the National Farm Worker Ministry (NFWM) will host a Two-Year Remembrance Ceremony  to honor the victims and survivors of the tragic Half Moon Bay shooting on January 23, 2023.This heartfelt event will serve as a moment of reflection, unity, and healing, while addres