FY 2024 Community Projects Funded
FY 2024 Community Projects Funded
Project Sponsor: Asian Youth Center
Project Name: Emergency Food Program Facilities Rehabilitation
Project Sponsor Location: 100 W Clary Avenue, San Gabriel CA 91776
Requested Amount: $750,000
Project Description: The funding would be used to rehabilitate a warehouse facility into the permanent home for the Asian Youth Center’s Emergency Food Program, which serves more than 700 families and distributes over 250,000 meals annually among an underserved low-income majority Asian American community struggling with food insecurity. In addition to food, the program also distributes PPE, hand sanitizer, diapers, baby formula, and information about low-income access to utilities, broadband, COVID-19 education, and other important health and public safety information. The project is an appropriate use of taxpayer funds because creating a permanent home for the Emergency Food Program is critical to the community’s long-term public safety, health, and well-being, and there are no other large food programs in the area.
Member Certification Letter
Project Sponsor: Chinatown Service Center
Project Name: Expanding Workforce Training Centers Development
Project Sponsor Location: 767 N. Hill Street, Suite 400, Los Angeles, CA 90012
Requested Amount: $850,000
Project Description: The funding would be used for the purchase of real estate to expand the capacity of Chinatown Service Center’s workforce training program. The project is an appropriate use of taxpayer funds because it will allow the program to recruit and serve more individuals within the target population of low-income Asian, Pilipino, Pacific Islander, and Hispanic participants, which will help address the historic racial inequity and socioeconomic barriers to labor force participation among these populations in the San Gabriel Valley community.
Member Certification Letter
Project Sponsor: City of Alhambra
Project Name: Joslyn Senior Center Facility Improvements
Project Sponsor Location: 111 S. First Street, Alhambra, CA 91801-0511
Requested Amount: $500,000
Project Description: The funding would be used for the exterior rehabilitation of the Joslyn Center, including the replacement of facility roofing and other exterior improvements including landscape, paint, signage, lighting, and redesigned entryways for improved access. The project is an appropriate use of taxpayer funds because the Joslyn Center is the City’s only senior center facility providing essential resources like seminars, counseling, senior outings, special events, classes, legal support, a Senior Nutrition Program providing hot meals at no cost, and a Senior Case Management Program. An estimated 40,000 seniors participate in Joslyn’s overall activities. However, recent inspections suggest the Center’s flat roof is deteriorating and leaking and could become unsafe for seniors, Center employees, and members of the public. Additionally, the facility’s two entryways are confusing; exterior wayfinding signs and lighting are insufficient; and the Center’s existing paint color and design features including landscape tend to hide the facility from public view. Rehabilitation is needed to ensure the facility is safe and accessible for the community.
Member Certification Letter
Project Sponsor: City of Monrovia
Project Name: Rio Hondo Ecosystem Restoration Project
Project Sponsor Location: 415 S Ivy Ave., Monrovia, CA 91016
Requested Amount: $959,752
Project Description: The funding would be used for the construction of an Enhanced Watershed Management Plan (EWMP) to comply with the MS4 permit set forth by the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board. The project is an appropriate use of taxpayer funds because this plan helps build the Rio Hondo Ecosystem Restoration Project which will help with storm water capture and treatment projects. This project will provide the ability to improve water quality in the Sawpit Wash and Peck Road Park Lake by removing trash, metals, and nutrients in storm water. Additionally, the project will decrease sediments, metals, and nutrients which will improve the water quality of storm water entering our region’s large pools of water.
Member Certification Letter
Project Sponsor: City of Monterey Park
Project Name: Monterey Park Fire Station 61 Renovation Project
Project Sponsor Location: 320 W. Newmark Ave., Monterey Park, California, 91754
Requested Amount: $1,500,000
Project Description: The funding would be used for construction, design, and remodeling of Fire Station 61, including a renovation of existing living quarters and shared spaces to ADA and gender compliance standards. The project is an appropriate use of taxpayer funds because the existing fire station is aging, beginning to exceed its useful life and not in compliance with ADA standards. This project would be an investment in public safety for the community by providing for additional resources and training for the City's first responders, making them better equipped to handle emergencies inside Monterey Park and neighboring jurisdictions.
Member Certification Letter
Project Sponsor: City of Pasadena
Project Name: Pasadena Facility for Jobs Creation Training and Education
Project Sponsor Location: 100 N Garfield Avenue, Pasadena CA, 91101
Requested Amount: $850,000
Project Description: The funding would be used for material, equipment, labor, and other construction costs to rehabilitate a new facility that will provide alternative pathways of training and education in professional, technical, and skilled trades professions and vocations. The City of Pasadena will partner with Pasadena City College, Pasadena Unified School District, and private entities. The project is an appropriate use of taxpayer funds because it will help address the labor shortage in trades careers by establishing a new facility to expand training opportunities in the professional, technical, healthcare, and skilled trades. It will give students who do not attend college the training needed to gain meaningful employment and be successful contributors to society.
Member Certification Letter
Project Sponsor: City of Pasadena
Project Name: Pasadena Water Treatment Project
Project Sponsor Location: 100 North Garfield Avenue, Pasadena, CA 91101
Requested Amount: $959,752
Project Description: The funding would be used for the construction of a new groundwater treatment facility with ion exchange and liquid granular activated carbon for removal of groundwater contaminants, along with onsite stormwater capture features. The project is an appropriate use of taxpayer funds because the project, located in a designated disadvantaged community, performs a critical role in the City’s drinking water system by serving about 25% of the City’s water demand. The project will also benefit over a dozen groundwater producers and nearby cities who share the groundwater basin as an essential source of water supply. Additionally, the project would provide for increased local sustainability by reducing the City’s dependence on drought-impacted imported supplies from the Colorado River and the State Water Project, and would provide for greater resilience in the face of extreme natural events like droughts, wildfires, and earthquakes. Lastly, the project’s stormwater capture enhancements will further benefit the surrounding community by improving downstream water quality.
Member Certification Letter
Project Sponsor: City of Rancho Cucamonga
Project Name: Cucamonga Canyon Land Conservation
Project Sponsor Location: 10500 Civic Center Drive, Rancho Cucamonga CA 91730
Requested Amount: $1,000,000
Project Description: The funding would be used to purchase approximately one-hundred-twenty acres of land surrounding Cucamonga Canyon Trail for conservation, rehabilitation, and preservation purposes in and around the trailhead and Cucamonga Canyon to protect the area’s natural and cultural resources. The project is an appropriate use of taxpayer funds because the area’s conservation needs have been identified through a multi-agency management plan by the U.S. Forest Service, San Bernardino County, and other local agencies. Cucamonga Canyon is ecologically connected to the dedicated Cucamonga Wilderness Area, and the Canyon provides support to sensitive, threatened, and otherwise ecologically significant species. Additionally, access to the Canyon is in a residential neighborhood, and the large crowds that visit the Canyon on a daily basis to view its waterfalls and pools have compromised the quality of life for area residents. Traffic, noise, littering, and graffiti are constant issues troubling the area and the lack of adequate parking facilities has caused considerable strain on nearby residential streets.
Member Certification Letter
Project Sponsor: City of Rosemead
Project Name: City of Rosemead Garvey Park Improvements Project
Project Sponsor Location: 8838 E Valley Blvd., Rosemead, CA 91770
Requested Amount: $800,000
Project Description: The funding would be used to make improvements to Garvey Park including the replacement of community center roofs, playground and workout equipment and machines, picnic shelter roofs, acoustic panels in the Gymnasium, and an upgrade to park lighting. The project is an appropriate use of taxpayer funds because Garvey Park is located within a disadvantaged area of the community, with a total of 1,494 people living in poverty within a half mile radius as reported by California State Parks Community FactFinder Report, and it is crucial that all residents especially in underserved communities have access to outdoor space and safe recreation opportunities.
Member Certification Letter
Project Sponsor: First Place for Youth
Project Name: Foster Youth Housing Expansion
Project Sponsor Location: 426 17th Street, Suite 100, Oakland, CA 94612
Requested Amount: $500,000
Project Description: The funding would be used to acquire and renovate two multi-family properties in Pasadena, California, adding at least 12 additional dedicated housing units for current and former foster youth that meet regulatory and best-practice standards for youth housing programs. First Place for Youth currently holds contracts with the County of Los Angeles that will finance the supportive services that will be provided to current and former foster youth housed in the properties. The project is an appropriate use of taxpayer funds because Los Angeles County is home to the nation’s largest foster care system and is experiencing a housing affordability crisis that contributes to unacceptably high rates of homelessness among former foster youth: more than 1 in 4 foster youth experience homelessness after leaving the system.
Member Certification Letter
Project Sponsor: Maryvale
Project Name: Maryvale Single Mothers Temporary Housing Expansion
Project Sponsor Location: 7600 East Graves Avenue, Rosemead, CA 91170
Requested Amount: $1,000,000
Project Description: The funding would be used for capital improvements, including materials, labor, and other construction related costs, to convert a current dorm-style residential building on Maryvale’s main campus into 20 individual living units for single mothers and their children, update kitchens and dining rooms, and create a less institutional feel. The project is an appropriate use of taxpayer funds because it will fill a great need in the community for temporary housing with supportive services for single mothers and their children. The project is consistent with the objectives of the Community Development Block Grant program because it focuses on low- to moderate-income individuals, expands the availability of affordable housing, advances economic opportunity, and helps build a stronger and more resilient community.
Member Certification Letter
Project Sponsor: San Bernardino County Preschool Services Department
Project Name: Upland Head Start Preschool Rehabilitation Project
Project Sponsor Location: 662 South Tippecanoe Avenue, San Bernardino, CA 92415
Requested Amount: $850,000
Project Description: The funding would be used on the rehabilitation of a new building for San Bernardino County’s Head Start preschool, including the classrooms, kitchen, children’s and adult restrooms, hallways, staff offices and break room, computer room, and the Family Learning Center. Once rehabilitated, the County would move out of its existing preschool and into the newly rehabilitated facility. The project is an appropriate use of taxpayer funds because the current preschool location is an aging modular facility that has serious structural issues in its foundation, water retention that has damaged the floors of the modular units, insufficient parking for staff and parents, and lacks the space needed to serve the children attending the preschool. The new facility is larger at 9,000 square feet, has more parking, and once rehabilitated will meet all California licensing requirements and comply with federal Head Start Program Performance Standards. A new rehabilitated preschool will ensure that the county can provide the best quality services for the low-income families who rely on Head Start to provide early childhood education and reliable, trustworthy daycare for their children.
Member Certification Letter
Project Sponsor: San Gabriel Basin Water Quality Authority
Project Name: San Gabriel Basin Restoration Fund
Project Sponsor Location: 1720 W. Cameron Ave., Suite 100 West Covina, CA 91790
Requested Amount: $5,500,000
Project Description: The funding would be used for groundwater cleanup in the San Gabriel Basin and the Central Basin in Southern California. It will support activities at 33 active groundwater cleanup projects that use the latest technology to remove contaminants. The project is an appropriate use of taxpayer funds because the San Gabriel Basin Restoration Fund was established by Congress in 2001 to clean up the region’s groundwater, major portions of which are designated as Superfund sites, to prevent the contamination from spreading into the Central Basin. The Basin provides 90% of the drinking water supplies for over 1.84 million residents, of which more than 400,000 are in disadvantaged communities. Without the ability to remove contaminants, water rates are likely to increase substantially for residents and the San Gabriel Valley will have to increase its reliance on imported water from Northern California.
Member Certification Letter
Project Sponsor: San Gabriel Valley Regional Housing Trust
Project Name: San Gabriel Valley Project Pipeline
Project Sponsor Location: 1000 S. Fremont Avenue, Unit 42, Building A-10N, Suite 10-210, Alhambra, CA 91803
Requested Amount: $1,000,000
Project Description: The funding would be used for site acquisition, construction, and capital improvements of affordable housing developments as prioritized by the SGVRHT Board of Directors. The SGVRHT maintains the San Gabriel Valley Project Pipeline, a list of affordable and homeless housing projects in need of gap financing. The SGVRHT affordable housing project pipeline identifies over 700 units of proposed affordable housing and 100 shelter beds that could advance to construction if provided relatively modest federal funding. Subgrantees are restricted to nonprofit developers or cities that are constructing the homeless housing or affordable housing projects. The project is an appropriate use of taxpayer funds because the need for affordable and homeless housing in the San Gabriel Valley has been declared a crisis, and to date the SGVRHT has already supported the development of 690 permanent housing units.
Member Certification Letter
Project Sponsor: City of San Gabriel Fire Department
Project Name: City of San Gabriel Emergency Operations Center (EOC)
Project Sponsor Location: 1303 S. Del Mar Ave., San Gabriel, CA 91776
Requested Amount: $225,000
Project Description: The funding would be used to update and upgrade the functions of the City of San Gabriel Emergency Operations Center (EOC), including purchasing robust equipment that will efficiently collect information and data and be able to overcome environments when the communication infrastructure is compromised. The project is an appropriate use of taxpayer funds because the EOC’s current technology is outdated and lacks the communication and data collection capabilities needed to assist with response, mitigation, and recover efforts of the city. That information will be valuable in providing data to the Disaster Management Area Coordinator (DMAC) to request for assistance.
Member Certification Letter