--- title: "Behind Closed Doors: The People Working Together to Bring Hope to Forgotten California Towns" description: Discover how a diverse committee, community groups and philanthropy unite to boost economic mobility and opportunity across California’s small towns author: Dr Marina Nani (Editor-in-Chief) date: 2025-07-16T11:59:15.000Z updated: 2026-02-26T22:05:18.431Z canonical: https://richwoman.co/article/behind-closed-doors-the-people-working-together-to-bring-hope-to-forgotten-california-towns image: https://cdn.nanimediahouse.com/uc8fvoyg5pu.jpg categories: Philanthropic Minds content_type: Feature region: California publication: Rich Woman Magazine --- When you drive through [Allensworth in Tulare County](https://grist.org/extreme-weather/tulare-lake-flooding-california-central-valley-subsidence-agriculture/), you’ll pass weathered homes where families have lived for generations, many working the surrounding fields that feed much of America. It’s California’s oldest Black-founded town, yet most people have never heard of it. When floods hit recently, the water didn’t just threaten buildings – it threatened dreams already hanging by a thread. These are the places that keep Dr Joaquin Arambula awake at night. Not the statistics or policy papers, but the actual people he grew up knowing. The families struggling to make ends meet while living just hours from Silicon Valley’s gleaming offices. ## The Doctor Who Never Forgot Home Arambula didn’t set out to become a politician. As [California’s first Latino physician elected to the State Assembly](https://a31.asmdc.org/biography), he spent years in Fresno emergency rooms, watching people arrive who couldn’t afford regular healthcare, who drove hours from small towns for basic medical care. His parents, Juan and Amy, raised him with stories of his grandfather’s work in the fields and the belief that those who succeed have a duty to pull others up with them. ‘California now has the fourth-largest economy in the world, but many of our residents are not part of that growth and development,’ Arambula says. It’s this disconnect that led him to chair the newly formed Select Committee on Community Economic Mobility and Investment – a group that sounds bureaucratic but is actually quite personal for everyone involved. ## Unlikely Allies Around the Table What makes this committee unusual isn’t just its focus, but who’s sitting around the table together. [Juan Alanis](https://ad22.asmrc.org/biography/), a Republican from Modesto, spent nearly 30 years in law enforcement before coming to Sacramento. Alexandra Macedo, a Republican environmental attorney from Tulare, knows firsthand what it’s like when regulations clash with rural realities. They don’t agree on everything with their Democratic colleagues, but they share something more important: they’ve all seen what happens when communities get left behind. These kinds of collaborations are rare in California politics, where [less than 1% of bills have bipartisan lead authors](https://calmatters.org/politics/2025/03/bipartisan-legislation-california-politics/). [When you’re talking about small towns](https://richwoman.co/article/from-ranch-life-to-public-office-valerie-roehrs-re-imagining-the-conversation-about-denton-co) where everyone knows each other regardless of party affiliation, political labels matter less than results. ## The Foundation Partners Who Step In While politicians debate, organisations like [Sierra Health Foundation](https://www.sierrahealth.org/programs/responsive-grants-program/) have been quietly working in these communities for years. They’re not there for photo opportunities – they’re funding healthcare education for farmworker families, supporting youth development programmes and helping communities recover from disasters. Chet Hewitt, who founded The Center at Sierra Health Foundation, puts it simply: ‘This is a critical time to ensure that economic growth and opportunity are inclusive of all California communities.’ His organisation has learned that real change happens when community members, elected officials and philanthropists each play their part – not when any one group tries to do everything alone. NextGen California’s Arnold Sowell Jr agrees. ‘The Select Committee will bring attention to the policy and programme changes needed to drive additional support for and resources to projects in all regions of our state,’ he explains. For him, it’s about making sure the partnerships that work don’t stay hidden in grant reports but get the attention they deserve. ## What Success Actually Looks Like The committee isn’t promising to solve everything overnight. Instead, they’re focused on creating what Arambula calls ‘systems that will support more sustainable growth throughout California.’ That means helping local businesses access resources they need, ensuring young people don’t have to leave home to find opportunities and making sure a family’s postcode doesn’t determine their prospects. For Arambula, success looks like fewer emergency room visits from preventable conditions, fewer families choosing between rent and medical bills. For Alanis and Macedo, it might mean local businesses thriving instead of shuttering, young people staying instead of leaving. ## The Personal Stakes What drives these people isn’t abstract policy goals but actual faces and names. Arambula still lives in the Central Valley, still sees the families he grew up with. When he talks about ensuring ‘all Californians and future generations can prosper and contribute to the economy of our State,’ he’s thinking about specific kids in specific classrooms. [The Center at Sierra Health Foundation](https://www.shfcenter.org/programs-and-initiatives/) has seen firsthand how [community organising and civic engagement](https://richwoman.co/article/journeys-home-the-families-behind-the-fight-for-cannabis-justice) can change outcomes. Their Community Economic Mobilisation Initiative isn’t just about grants – it’s about helping people build the skills and connections they need to create change themselves. Hewitt reflects on what they’ve learned: [community organisations, elected officials and philanthropy](https://richwoman.co/article/community-led-housing-solutions-spark-new-wave-of-homelessness-support) each have crucial roles, but the magic happens when they work together instead of in silos. ‘We are grateful that the California legislature recognises that the economic prosperity of underinvested communities supports the overall economic vitality of California.’ ## Fighting in Every Corner The committee includes representatives from across the state – Assemblymember Alex Lee from Milpitas in the tech-heavy South Bay, Jeff Gonzalez from the desert communities around Indio, Celeste Rodriguez from San Fernando in LA County. Each brings different challenges, but the common thread is simple: every community deserves someone fighting in their corner. For Arambula, who followed his father Juan into public service, that responsibility feels personal. [The elder Arambula, son of immigrant farm workers](https://richwoman.co/article/female-leaders-making-a-difference-karen-freeman-wilson), served in the same seat his son now holds. The family knows these aren’t just policy discussions – they’re conversations about neighbours and friends, about whether the next generation will have reasons to stay or reasons to leave. As this committee begins its work, the people of [places like Allensworth and Lindsay](http://articles.latimes.com/2011/apr/13/local/la-me-tulare-20110413) might not know their names are being spoken in Sacramento meeting rooms. But for the first time in a while, they have a group of people – from different parties, different backgrounds, different walks of life – who are determined to make sure their hometowns aren’t forgotten.