KarunaNews Story

In San Diego County, which has the ninth-highest total immigrant population of all US counties, planning is underway to create a multipurpose “Global Village” featuring affordable housing, child care, small business incubation, and other resources for the region’s refugees, asylum seekers and immigrants. It was designed in partnership with more than 2,000 community members who migrated from Somalia, Afghanistan, Mexico, Burma, Thailand, Cambodia and other nations. With $8.58 million in grants from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott, the California Endowment and the state government, the Partnership for the Advancement of New Americans secured 2.2 acres of land in San Diego’s rapidly gentrifying City Heights neighborhood in 2023. The vision is for 167 units of larger affordable housing, transitional housing for migrants and asylum seekers, a market for small business incubation, a community convening space, emergency services, and a nonprofit hub offering child care and other wrap-around services.