During Tuesday's Board Meeting, the Orange County Board of Supervisors unanimously supported my $10 million small business economic support program to provide immediate relief to local businesses who have been adversely affected by the pandemic.

My directive calls for the allocation of $10 million from County reserves for economic support initiatives for small businesses, split equally between the five supervisorial districts. Each Supervisor will allocate their district’s share of the funds to help meet the economic needs of small businesses. These funds are in addition to the $75 million CARES ACT Small Business program that was approved by the Board back in June.

Each supervisorial district will announce its business grant program in the following days.

With so many questions about COVID-19, the Orange County Health Care Agency established a dedicated hotline and email for you to get your questions answered. 

Every year, I help sponsor the Santa Anita Neighborhood Association’s holiday gift drive for the neighborhood kids.

This year, Walmart and Target also stepped up and provided generous donations of $400 and $1000, respectively, directly to Santa Anita. Thanks to all who made this event possible!

Thank you to everyone who volunteered last Wednesday to provide groceries and food to those who are in need this holiday season.

I look forward to continuing these food distributions with Saddleback Church in the upcoming year.

Last weekend, my family and I had a great time at the 3rd Annual Winter in the Grove drive-through celebration in Garden Grove!

I’m proud to have helped sponsor this event so Orange County families could enjoy some holiday magic with those they hold dear in a way that kept everyone safe.

Happy holidays!

The eight-day celebration of Hanukkah began on the evening of December 10th. Many families across Orange County will be lighting the menorah and observing their faith tonight. While celebrations are different this year because of COVID-19, there is still much joy to be had in observing our respective faiths with our families, at a distance. Wishing all who celebrate, a Happy Hanukkah!

Orangewood Foundation has a new program, the Youth Connected Program, to support teens in foster care and their foster parents and caregivers (also known as “resource parents”).

Youth Connected is a licensed foster family agency that will provide teens in foster care with the opportunity to attend and live on the campus of Samueli Academy, an award-winning 7th-12th grade charter school in Santa Ana, five days a week, while spending weekends, holidays, and other non-school time with their foster families.

Orangewood is seeking local individuals, couples, and families from throughout Orange County who are interested in becoming foster parents.

Click here for more information.

The OC Streetcar team is hosting a virtual community open house on December 17th at 5:30 pm for community members to tune in and hear about construction updates. It will be available in both English and Spanish.

Click here to sign up for the virtual event.