EL CHICANo Weekly
Vol 62, NO. 43
August 14, 2025
Inland Empire Summit Reveals Majority of Rent-Burdened Households Spend Over 50% of Income During Humane Housing Panel By Manny Sandoval
I
n the Inland Empire, most renter households considered rent-burdened — paying at least 35 percent of their income on rent — actually spend more than half of their income just to keep a roof over their heads. The finding underscored urgent conversations at the Inland Empire Community Foundation’s Policy & Philanthropy Summit, held Aug. 6–7 at the Riverside Convention Center.
IECN.com
The two-day event drew nearly 500 nonprofit leaders, policymakers, and advocates from across Riverside and San Bernardino counties, and even beyond, under the theme “Common Ground for the Common Good.”
Roving Immigration Raids Continue in Places like San Bernardino Despite Court Order Pg. 4
PHOTO MANNY SANDOVAL Dr. Corey Jackson speaks with Inland Empire Community News and KVCR backstage after his panel with Assemblymember Robert Garcia on affordable housing.
Conversations throughout the summit were framed by the “vital conditions” — seven interconnected pillars for building thriving communities: basic needs for health and safety, humane housing, meaningful work and wealth, lifelong learning, reliable transporta-
tion, belonging and civic muscle, and a thriving natural world. During a humane housing panel, California Assemblymembers Dr. Corey Jackson and Robert Garcia tackled the Inland Empire’s affordability crisis head-on. Jackson stressed the need for government, nonprofits, and the private sector to end siloed work and coordinate strategies. “There isn’t a single report, study, or recommendation that doesn’t say we have to stop operating in silos,” Jackson said. “If we're all serving the same population, we should be coordinating, sharing information, and creating spaces where nonprofits, government, and business can hear the same message and work together. That’s when we can truly call ourselves a community and deliver for the people we profess to care about.” Pressed on why developers continue building larger, costlier homes, Jackson pointed to Summit cont. on next pg.
Rialto Unified Unveils State-of-the-art Learning Complex at Eisenhower High Fontana Unified Kicks Off 2025-26 School Year with New Beginnings, Historic Milestones Pg. 5
Inland Assemblymember Empire Community RamosNewspapers Donates $10K to Support San Bernardino Office: (909) 381-9898 Student iecn1@mac.com Backpack Editorial: Giveaway Advertising: sales@iecn.com Pg. 8
PHOTO MANNY SANDOVAL A new era begins at Eisenhower High School! Rialto USD Board of Education members join Eisenhower High School leaders, staff, and community partners in cutting the ribbon for the school’s New Learning Complex, a $36 million Measure Y project featuring two state-of-the-art classroom buildings designed for 21st-century learning, on August 8.
reen and Gold is bold and Eisenhower High School recently commemorated a positive, historic moment that will support students in academic success for the years to come.
G
Unified School District’s Dwight D. Eisenhower High School officially opened its New Learning Complex on the morning of August 8, with a pair of majestic, gleaming classroom buildings that signal a bold new chapter for the 65-year-old historic campus.
With cheers, applause, and the snip of the official ribbon cutting scissors, Rialto
Rialto USD Board Members joined District officials, business, city and com-
By Manny Sandoval
HOW TO REACH US Inland Empire Community Newspapers Office: (909) 381-9898 Editorial: iecn1@mac.com Advertising: iecn1@mac.com Legals: iecnlegals@gmail.com
munity leaders, Eisenhower High School administration, students, some teachers and classified staff gathered to celebrate the $36-million project that was paid for through the Measure “Y” school bond, which was approved by Rialto USD voters in 2010. The new buildings replace the old portable classrooms with modern, technology-rich classrooms for today’s students. Rialto Unified Cont. on next pg.