East Salinas residents get a temporary community space.

There is a new high-speed internet hub, exercise space and community garden in East Salinas, as of Dec. 14.

The community space was developed by CHISPA, a nonprofit housing developer, and the nonprofit Center of Community Advocacy, to fulfill the needs of low-income families who live in Acosta Plaza apartments. 

CCA and CHISPA got $90,000 in funds from the Monterey Peninsula Foundation and David & Lucile Packard Foundation to open the temporary space. The communal area is at the Sanborn Ranch House Community Center, a community center project that has been in the works for around 10 years, and had stagnated due to Covid-19. 

The project was welcomed by residents from the area. Veronica Leon, a community leader with CCA, says it is envisioned as a place where residents from Acosta Plaza can relax.

"I'm very proud of this project," Leon says in Spanish. "It will benefit our community. For the first time, in this community, we will have a place for the young and also for adults where we can have healthy and safe activities."

Jasmin Laguna, a 9-year-old student and Acosta Plaza resident, said in a statement: “We currently have a great need for Wi-Fi because schools and other places are closed due to the pandemic. We needed a place to do our homework and succeed in school to achieve things in life and fulfill our dreams."

At the outset of the pandemic, CCA members put out some tables outside the property and talked with residents about what they could do to help them out.  The key takeaways: residents said they needed a place with Wi-Fi for their kids and space to exercise or where the elderly could do recreational activities. "They decided those three options were a priority," Leon says.

“They came with this idea of having a space for the three generations,” says Alfred Diaz-Infante, president/CEO of CHISPA. 

The pandemic has highlighted how deep the inequalities are for low-income families and the limited access they have for services in Monterey County, as well as the rest of the state. One of them is the digital divide, or access to technology such as high-speed internet, and digital devices. (On Dec. 7, multiple bills attempting to close the digital divide divide were introduced in the California Legislature.)

Diaz-Infante hopes the project moves forward beyond the pandemic into a more lasting form. “The dream is to build a larger development which will be in millions of dollars,” he says. 

Sanborn Ranch House Community Center is located at 920 Acosta Plaza. It has benches and tables, a platform and gardening space. It’s open from 10am-noon and 4-6pm.