• 2001: Purchased a commercial kitchen for the Child Nutrition Division to make and deliver thousands of meals each month. 
  • 2003: Launched a new School Readiness Initiative with First 5 LA to serve families in El Sereno. 
  • 2004-2005: Reopened two offices in Fresno and Merced to resettle over 1,100 Hmong refugees (the final group arriving from Thailand). Began initial outreach to assist victims of Human Trafficking. 
  • 2006: Opened an office in Glendale to help resettle religious minority refugees arriving from Iran. 
  • 2007: Began a Refugee Healthy Marriages Program to provide communication workshops for refugee couples and served over 200 individuals each year. 
  • 2008: Began Refugee Employment Program funded at over $1 million by LA County to place refugees in jobs. Hired 25 new staff and opened new office in Glendale.  Initiated Refugee Healthy Families program with grant from our national office (US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants). Refugees from Iraq war began arriving in greater numbers.  Began the TEAM Program, funded by the State CPUC, to educate limited English proficient residents on telephone services.  Opened three new childcare facilities. 
  • 2008-2012: The U.S. suffered the most severe financial crisis in decades, resulting in massive bailouts of corporations.  California suffers a protracted $42 billion deficit, resulting in many months of gridlock and freeze in payments to agencies contracted with the State, including IILA. In the succeeding years IILA advocated against attempts to completely eliminate various social safety net programs in California, including the entire welfare program “CalWORKS” and In-Home Supportive Services, and severe cuts to childcare. 
  • 2009: Recognized by the U.S. House of Representatives and the California State Assembly for its work in childcare.  After producing 11 million child meals, IILA sold its Beverly/Union kitchen and two-flat building and launched construction of state-of-the art commercial kitchen at our Selig headquarters, which opened November of 2009.