MICOP Is Vital Link for Indigenous Communities During COVID
Nonprofit Serves 50,000+ Residents with 19 Programs in Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties
Mixteco Indigena Community Organizing Project (MICOP), much like the 29,000+ Indigenous residents of Santa Barbara and 21,000+ Indigenous residents of Ventura County that it serves, toils each day out of view of much of society, but it plays a vital role in assisting Indigenous communities, in COVID times and normal times.
The communities MICOP serves are primarily Mixteco, but there are small groups of Zapotecs, Purépecha, and other Indigenous groups as well. Most are farmworkers, and many live in Oxnard and Santa Maria and speak only their native language.
MICOP, with a $5 million budget (half of which comes from public sources) and a staff that is 80 percent Indigenous, has earned the trust of those it serves through 19 years of outreach and assistance in Ventura County. It began serving Santa Maria residents in 2017, opened a small office last year, and is presently expanding staff and services.
