Huntington Park extends HP With You program through 2027
HUNTINGTON PARK, CA — The Huntington Park City Council voted 4-0 Tuesday to extend the city's HP With You (HP Contigo) program for another year, continuing an initiative that began during last summer's immigration enforcement raids and has since provided food assistance, legal services, and community outreach to hundreds of residents.
Councilmember Arturo Flores was absent from the meeting.
The City Council approved a one-year extension of the HP Contigo program and a contract amendment with Southeast Leadership Network worth up to $150,000, allowing the initiative to continue through June 30, 2027. The program provides civic education, legal assistance, rapid response resources, community outreach, and social service referrals to HP residents and families in need.
The program was created following the immigration enforcement activity that swept through parts of Southern California last summer.
"People in the community were afraid to go out, even shopping to get groceries and essential items," Southeast Leadership Network Vice President Enrique Vega said in a phone interview. "We mobilized volunteers to field calls and make food deliveries to families in need."
Vega said the volunteer effort caught the attention of HP leaders, who decided to fund a dedicated Huntington Park program focused on food deliveries, legal assistance, and educating residents about their rights.
According to a city report released in March, HP Contigo has directly assisted 765 families and referred 225 cases to partner organizations since launching in 2025. The program has also provided legal representation for three Huntington Park residents detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and connected dozens more residents with free or low-cost legal services.
One of the program's largest efforts has been outreach to local businesses. City reports show HP Contigo completed roughly 200 hours of door-to-door outreach and engaged about 240 businesses along Pacific Boulevard, Florence Boulevard, and Gage Avenue, a figure Vega said has since grown to nearly 300 businesses.
Business owners often voiced concerns about the impact immigration enforcement was having on customers and employees.
"Their biggest concerns were how the raids were impacting their business," Vega said. "People didn't want to visit their stores, and some employees were afraid to go into work."
The program has distributed more than 13,000 Know Your Rights cards, 10,000 program postcards, six hundred emergency preparedness flyers, and other informational materials designed to help businesses understand what immigration agents can and cannot do.
Vega said the food delivery effort had the most immediate impact during the program's first few months.
"From June to September it was very constant," he said. “We reached quite a number of families… Which was important because, again, a lot of them were afraid to leave their houses and (were) not able to get access to groceries.”
Looking ahead, Vega said HP Contigo hopes to evolve into a broader resource hub connecting residents with housing assistance, utility assistance, workforce development programs, health care resources, and emergency financial aid.
"We're going to be kind of a connector of resources in the area that could help specifically Huntington Park residents," he said.
Residents seeking assistance through HP With You can contact the program by phone at (323) 383-7654 or visit sln.org/hp-with-you for more information.
