Mixteco Indigena Community Organizing Project

MICOP is an Indigenous-led organization established in 2001 to support, organize, and empower Indigenous migrant communities in California’s Central Coast, where half of the state's 120,000 Indigenous migrant farmworkers live. MICOP provides direct services to meet the critical needs of Indigenous migrants, including distribution of food, diapers, and essential goods. Case management and Indigenous-language interpretation services are provided to help overcome language and other access barriers to critical-needs services. Outreach/education keep Indigenous migrants informed about community issues, including information about public health emergencies (e.g., COVID, wildfires, heat waves, etc). In addition, emotional wellness programs that incorporate traditional Indigenous healing practices are offered to address mental health issues. MICOP also engages Indigenous migrants in advocacy efforts, including its Labor Justice Campaign, which empowers indigenous farmworkers to identify, report and resolve employment-based abuses (e.g., unpaid overtime, wage theft, on the job sexual harassment, etc.).Tequio is MICOP's social-justice youth leadership development program, which promotes indigenous pride, encourages academic achievement, and advocates against bullying/discrimination of Indigenous youth. To celebrate and preserve Indigenous culture, MICOP organizes special events, dance/musical performances, Indigenous art exhibits, and other cultural activities held year-round. Lastly, MICOP complements/enhances all its programs with a unique tool: Radio Indigena 94.1FM, MICOP's own radio station, which provides 40 hours/week of live programing in Indigenous languages. Radio Indigena entertains, informs, educates, and mobilizes thousands of listeners into action to advance social justice and equity. In 2022, MICOP served 10,059 unduplicated Indigenous migrants, including 5,917 children in Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo Counties.