IN THE NEWS

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 Ca

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. He a

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 studen

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. The

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

byErica 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 perplexin

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

Press Conference and Community Vigil to Address Housing, Immigration, and Inequities While Honoring the Victims and Families Half Moon Bay, Calif. – January 16, 2025 – 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,

In Half Moon Bay, an innovative music class led by the son of music royalty helps farmworkers cope with trauma. by Erica Hellerstein December 9, 2024 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, at Cabrillo Farms in Half Moon Bay on September 11, 2024. Credit: Hiram Alejandro Durán for El Tímpano/Catchlight/Report for America corps member It’s a late f

Ayudando Latinos A Soñar (ALAS) hosted a free community health event in Half Moon Bay in partnership with California Life Sciences (CLS), Gentech, the County of San Mateo, offering vital health services and resources to support and uplift the well-being of local residents. The event took place on Saturday, November 23, 2024, from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM PST at the Half Moon Bay I.D.E.S. Society, located at 735 Main Street, Half Moon Bay, CA 94019.

ALAS, a non-profit in Half Moon Bay, is hosting a community healthcare event for farmworkers and other essential workers for free this Saturday By NBC Bay Area staff • Published November 22, 2024 • Updated on November 22, 2024 at 3:51 pm Several community groups are set to move the community forward this weekend and give farmworkers, who usually live out of the spotlight, access to health resources in the Peninsula. Ayudando Latinos A Soñar, better known as ALAS, the non-prof

By Betty Yu Published November 13, 2024 6:30am PST Immigration KTVU FOX 2 SAN FRANCISCO - Bay Area communities are reacting to the incoming administration's aggressive approach to immigration, including threats of mass deportation. President-Elect Donald Trump appointed a tough-talking ‘border czar’ who promises to run the biggest deportation operation this country's ever seen. Tom Homan, who served under Trump in his first administration as ICE director, is charged with car

By Sebastian Miño-Bucheli Nov 6, 2024 Giusti Farmworkers were asked what their name is, their favorite foods and what healthy foods they want to learn how to make. Sebastian Miño-Bucheli/Coastside News. Sebastian Miño-Bucheli Through a collaboration with Second Harvest of Silicon Valley and Ayudando Latinos a Soñar, farmworkers at Giusti Farms will receive four workshop classes delivered to their front steps through the Farmworker Equity Express bus on Wednesday evenings. The

North Fair Oaks residents unite against rising anti-immigrant rhetoric State Senator Josh Becker, center, gathers with community members during a press conference about SB 537, a bill aimed at memorializing the Mexican Repatriation of the 1930’s on Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024, in Redwood City, Calif. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group) By Ryan Macasero | rmacasero@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group UPDATED: November 4, 2024 at 5:12 AM PST In a nation that prides itself on be

by: Stephanie Lin Posted: Nov 2, 2024 / 03:00 PM PDT Updated: Nov 2, 2024 / 03:00 PM PDT (KRON) — KRON4 anchor Stephanie Lin interviews the Founder and Executive Director of Ayusando Latinos A Soñar Dr. Belinda Hernandez-Arriaga regarding the Dia de los Muertos celebrations in the Bay Area this weekend.