SAN DIEGO — More than $3 million in federal funds are set to go to three programs for minority students in local community colleges, San Diego leaders announced Monday.

The funds were secured as part of the community funding in the budget bill passed by Congress last year, going towards campus initiatives to support LGBTQ+ students, foster youth and undocumented students.

Of the $3.4 million that San Diego community colleges will receive, $1 million will go towards the initiative to expand service for youths who have recently aged out of the foster care system. Projects to expand the “Dreamer” Resource Centers serving undocumented students and resources for LGBTQ+ students will each be receiving $1.2 million.

At a news conference Monday on the campus of San Diego Mesa College, Representatives Sara Jacobs, Scott Peters and Juan Vargas presented a check to the campus community, celebrating the impact that this money will have on thousands of students enrolled in the district’s colleges.

“I am a dreamer,” Anahis Mendoza, a student who uses and works at the San Diego Mesa College Dreamer Center, told FOX 5. “The funding is very important for all of us because it creates a private space and it provides the support that the students need to be able to continue their educational journey.”

Rep. Sara Jacobs also spoke to FOX 5 about the importance of these funds to support LGBTQ+ students on local community college campuses.

“We have all heard and seen the rise of anti-LGBTQ+ hate happening around the country, specifically the anti-trans rhetoric, policies and violence,” she said. “To me, it seems very clear that there’s never been a more important time to make sure that our LGBTQ+ youth can safely and freely be themselves.”

While on campus, the congressional leaders present at Monday’s conference got a chance to tour the Pride, Dreamer, and FAST (foster youth) centers at Mesa College — offices that will be directly benefited by the federal funds.

The San Diego Community College District is one of the largest in the state, with over 100,000 students enrolled annually across its three colleges.