The Somali Bantu Community of San Diego (SBCSD) was established in 2005 as a nonprofit, community-based social service organization. Since establishment the organization has provided direct services to Somali Bantu refugees providing greater access to health care, education, growing healthy local and culturally appropriate food, as well as providing greater access to jobs to thousands of families. SBCSD has helped individuals and families successfully address the critical needs and concerns of Somali Bantu refugees in City Heights as a grantee of the California Endowment’s Building Healthy Communities Initiative.
Case Management
SBCSD provides on-going case management services to our clients in the areas including, but not limited to: food stamp applications, TANF, Medicaid/ Medicare applications, job applications, resume development, job search, transportation, housing assistance, unemployment benefits applications, coordination services to resolve legal issues and interpretation.
Food Security
The Somali Bantu Community in Food Security and Community Health (FSCH) Program creates innovative and sustainable projects that increase healthy, locally-grown, culturally-appropriate foods for and by San Diego’s refugee and low-income communities. Since 2007, the FSCH Program has partnered closely with our clients, local neighborhoods and organizations throughout San Diego County to find durable solutions to food insecurity, health problems, and economic hardship through community-based food and farming projects.
The Food Security and Community Health (FSCH) Program creates projects and services for our refugee clients to have a healthy resettlement. Our Program focuses on five inter-related core project areas:
1) Healthy, Culturally-Appropriate Food Security
2) Nutrition and Wellness
3) Farming Enterprise
4) Community Leadership
5) Advocacy and Systems Change.
Our Program constantly strives for sustainability and scalability in all we do. We are committed to sharing and training others in our program models, technical knowledge and project tools to allow as many people and organizations to engage and sustain this work.
Document and Language Translation
Our services include the translation of documents such as those related to medical insurance, immigration services, employment applications and more.
Cultural Workshops
SBCSD supports the community through cultural sensitivity services, addressing topics such as domestic violence in workshops catered to groups of parents, youth, individuals, and families.
Community Mutual Aid
Our community provides access to food, school supplies, and technical support for both students and parents. We allow access at our community garden for families to help with groceries and to sell at local farmers markets.
We also provide job training in our community, such as becoming childcare providers and small business owners.
Legal Support
In partnership with the San Diego Volunteer Lawyer Program, SBCSD provides legal assistance and support to immigrants, refugees, victims of landlords, and others.
Covid-19 Awareness
Since 2020, the Somali Bantu Community of San Diego has provided many services during the COVID-19 pandemic. We help distribute food, and assist in applying for the Pandemic EBT program, renting assistance, and unemployment benefits. We also provide phone call services to those who are struggling with the negative impacts of COVID-19, as well as offer a tutoring service through Zoom.