{"id":415878,"date":"2025-11-30T21:40:20","date_gmt":"2025-11-30T21:40:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/415878\/"},"modified":"2025-11-30T21:40:20","modified_gmt":"2025-11-30T21:40:20","slug":"nonprofits-benefit-from-425k-airbnb-donation-including-city-heights-cdc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/415878\/","title":{"rendered":"Nonprofits benefit from $425K Airbnb donation, including City Heights CDC"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Airbnb donates to the San Diego River Park Foundation. (Photo courtesy of Airbnb)<\/p>\n

While the holidays is an especially cozy time to be thankful and gather your close ones, it\u2019s also a more difficult time for those already struggling to put food on the table. However, hundreds of San Diegan families will have greater access to meals and emergency food assistance thanks to the new $425,000 donation from Airbnb to five San Diego nonprofits, including City Heights Community Development Corporation (CDC).<\/p>\n

City Heights is home to diverse families, including immigrant refugee families, who are a crucial part of the San Diego community. For City Heights CDC, which has been part of the neighborhood for more than four decades, the funding couldn\u2019t have come at a better moment.<\/p>\n

For City Heights CDC, which has been part of the neighborhood for more than four decades, the funding couldn\u2019t have come at a better moment.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe timing was opportune, and the initial discussion was a small but significant start,\u201d said Alexis Villanueva, President and CEO of City Heights CDC. \u201cWe\u2019ve been in the community of City Heights for over 44 years now.\u201d<\/p>\n

This donation will help the CDC to expand its food distribution programs and launch a new Emergency Food Pantry hotline, which will help families with immediate need to get basic necessities. CDC also plans to distribute hot meal vouchers and grocery gift cards, a deeply personal effort for Villanueva.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur goal is to not just feed families, but also inject healthy capital into our local economic landscape, which has been affected by the curtailing of SNAP as well,\u201d Villanueva said. \u201cWe want to make sure that we\u2019re providing for basic needs, but we also want our families to have fun and feel like they\u2019re not in a state of distress all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Airbnb\u2019s contributions come through their Community Fund, a $100 million global initiative launched in 2020 to support local organizations.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Airbnb Community Fund is a $100 million initiative launched in 2020 to really support local communities worldwide,\u201d said Janaye Ingram, Airbnb\u2019s Director of Community Partner Programs & Engagement. \u201cEach year, Airbnb donates to organizations that strengthen and uplift communities with input from our hosts and from local stakeholders.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is the largest donation Airbnb has contributed to San Diego. Their 2025 round of funding will go toward five nonprofits: City Heights CDC, Jewish Family Service, the San Diego Parks Foundation, the San Diego River Park Foundation, and Sharia\u2019s Closet.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Grant park project through San Diego River Park Foundation. (Photo courtesy of Airbnb)<\/p>\n

Ingram highlighted that Sharia\u2019s Closet stood out to her this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne moment that really stayed with us, and in particular with our host community, was visiting Sharia\u2019s Closet and seeing firsthand that Bag of Hope Program and the way in which it touched people\u2019s lives,\u201d Ingram said.<\/p>\n

Sharia\u2019s Closet\u2019s Bag of Hope program<\/a> provides a customized bag of quality clothing, with seven to ten outfits and basic hygiene products, to extremely vulnerable individuals and families throughout the community for free.<\/p>\n

Growing up as part of a an immigrant refugee family, Villanueva resonates deeply with the initiative to help struggling families. She strives to continue to see a community that uplifts each other.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you come into this community, you\u2019re welcomed \u2014 your challenges, your struggles, your stories are welcomed,\u201d she said. \u201cWhat makes us unique is that instead of necessarily feeling victimized by the challenges and struggles, people have turned that into resiliency and collaboration and community \u2014 and so everywhere you turn, it\u2019s a smile, it\u2019s a \u2018How can I help?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

That sense of shared purpose, she believes, is part of what sustains City Heights through difficult times.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe deserve to feel safe. We deserve to feel gratitude and appreciation. We deserve to be happy,\u201d Villanueva said. \u201cAnd so I feel like that starts with our smile and our kindness towards each other.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even amid rising food costs and tightening assistance programs, Villanueva remains optimistic.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do believe, you know, the rising tide lifts all,\u201d she said. \u201cI do believe that we can serve both business and residents and community members and clergy and everybody \u2014 all the different entities within our communities together.\u201d<\/p>\n

When asked to look ahead at 2026, and think about what gives her hope for the future, Villanueva lit up.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat gives me hope?\u201d she added with a smile. \u201cI can walk down the street, and even with the challenges and the struggles that are happening, we still see smiles.\u201d<\/p>\n

As families prepare for the holidays, City Heights CDC\u2019s expanded food program aims to deliver more than just nourishment, it seeks to give to a lasting impact on the city.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s us showing our support for incredible organizations that are really working to strengthen communities all across San Diego,\u201d Ingram said.<\/p>\n

READ NEXT\n\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Airbnb donates to the San Diego River Park Foundation. (Photo courtesy of Airbnb) While the holidays is an…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":415879,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5134],"tags":[17053,5229,1582,276,34657,195000,15418,3549,7264,195001,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-415878","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-diego","8":"tag-airbnb","9":"tag-america","10":"tag-ca","11":"tag-california","12":"tag-city-heights","13":"tag-jewish-family-service-of-san-diego","14":"tag-nonprofits","15":"tag-san-diego","16":"tag-sandiego","17":"tag-sharias-closet","18":"tag-united-states","19":"tag-united-states-of-america","20":"tag-unitedstates","21":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","22":"tag-us","23":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115640823597423649","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415878","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=415878"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415878\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/415879"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=415878"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=415878"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=415878"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}