Sacramento Nonprofit Giving Relief Checks To Undocumented Immigrants
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — Some undocumented immigrants are receiving a different sort of stimulus check and it's all thanks to the generosity of others.
Lidia Melendez and her husband have a lot to celebrate after 16 years of marriage, but during the pandemic that does not include the financial relief of a federal stimulus check.
"I am undocumented. He is an American citizen," Melendez said.
They pay taxes, but because she does not have a social security number, they are both banned from receiving federal stimulus funds through the CARES Act.
"It feels like a punish for him for choosing who he wants to spend the rest of his life with," she said.
As she faces job uncertainty and has three kids to feed, Melendez turned to Sacramento ACT, a group supplying their own version of stimulus checks to those who can't get one, all thanks to donations.
"I know multiple people who took their stimulus check because they still had jobs and said 'let's put it here because others need it more than we do,'" Sacramento ACT volunteer Lamaia Coleman said.
Melendez also saw the need stretching far beyond her own family, so when her $500 arrived from Sacramento ACT, she used part of the money to buy groceries for other families.
In all, more than a dozen other families received bags filled with food, and Melendez says it's her way of passing on a gift far greater.
"Thank you for that feeling inside of me say that there are still people that care, that truly care," Melendez said.
In the last month, Sacramento ACT has given out more than $100,000 in aid and they are still taking donations to meet what they call an "overwhelming demand."
