An East Bay social justice organization is asking the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors to spend millions of remaining federal COVID-relief money on food and rental assistance. On Tuesday, supervisors will be asked to give county staff directions about how to spend more than $9.7 million remaining in the county’s COVID-19 FEMA fund.

Organizers from the East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy are asking the county to spend $5 million of that on food assistance and $3 million on rental assistance, said Betty Gabaldon, organizing manager at EBASE. She says the need is particularly high in the county’s immigrant communities, given the federal government’s immigration crack down.

“We know that they’re targeting the Latino community right now,” said Gabaldon, who is also founder of

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