Priority Populations

Investments in Social Resilience Support Adaptation to COVID-19 Challenges

Investments in Social Resilience Support Adaptation to COVID-19 Challenges

California Strategic Growth Council

The COVID‑19 pandemic has exacerbated existing food insecurity in the Watts community in Los Angeles, where the Transformative Climate Communities Program in 2017 made a $33.25 million investment of California Climate Investment funds to implement the Watts Rising vision. To ensure continued access to fresh produce throughout the pandemic, the Watts Rising collaborative partners harnessed their existing virtual community engagement events as a platform to distribute food and critical public health information.

Community Knowledge and Collaborative Research Facilitate Equitable Energy Transitions

Community Knowledge and Collaborative Research Facilitate Equitable Energy Transitions

California Strategic Growth Council

In Los Angeles County, transitioning to clean, renewable energy will improve air quality and reduce the overall carbon footprint in California’s most populous region. With a $638,878 award from California Climate Investments through the Climate Change Research Program, a partnership led by the University of California, Los Angeles and Liberty Hill Foundation is helping to make this transition equitable, affordable, and beneficial for people living in the area’s priority populations. That means engaging these communities at all stages of the research.

Adaptive Reuse Brings Affordable Housing, Walkability, and Community Arts Space to Santa Ana

Adaptive Reuse Brings Affordable Housing, Walkability, and Community Arts Space to Santa Ana

California Strategic Growth Council

In June 2020, artists, their families, and low‑income earners in Santa Ana began moving into new affordable homes funded in part by a $12 million award from California Climate Investments through the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities program. In partnership with the Southern California Association of Governments, the Santa Ana Arts Collective development promotes sustainability and health through active transportation safety activities, supported by over .5 miles of bicycle facility improvements and 36 improved pedestrian crossings. The project also features a gallery space for resident and community artists, and Meta Housing is partnering with Western Community Housing to deliver on‑site adult education services.

Connecting a Coachella Valley Elementary School with Safe and Resilient Water Supplies

Connecting a Coachella Valley Elementary School with Safe and Resilient Water Supplies

California State Water Resources Control Board

Westside Elementary School in the Coachella Valley relied solely on well water for its drinking water. The well had an unfortunate history of both contamination and the inability to provide adequate water supplies to prevent fires. Thanks in part to a nearly $370,000 from California Climate Investments through the Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Fund, these problems have been solved.

Wishing Tree Park Provides New Green Space in West Carson

Wishing Tree Park Provides New Green Space in West Carson

California Natural Resources Agency

One of the Los Angeles Neighborhood Land Trust’s most exciting parks currently under construction is the 8.5‑acre, multi‑benefit Wishing Tree Park located in unincorporated West Carson, Los Angeles County. This project has been in the works for decades, and thanks in part to a $2,500,000 grant from California Climate Investments through the Urban Greening Program the park will be opening to the public in late 2021.

Studies Inform Pathways to a Carbon Neutral Economy

Studies Inform Pathways to a Carbon Neutral Economy

California Environmental Protection Agency

Supported by nearly $2.6 million from California Climate Investments, the California Environmental Protection Agency is working with University of California researchers to carry out two studies that will help California reach its goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2045. In particular, these studies will examine ways to reduce emissions from the transportation sector, the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in California. The studies will also quantify air pollution and economic impacts for multiple greenhouse gas emissions reduction scenarios.

Food Waste Prevention and Rescue in Alameda County

California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery

Twenty years ago, Hope 4 the Heart began providing food rescue services to their Hayward, California community and surrounding areas. In 2019, they received $329,766 from California Climate Investments through the Food Waste Prevention and Rescue Grant Program.

Bringing Electrification and Energy Efficiency to Low-Income San Francisco Communities

California Department of Community Services and Development

The Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation’s (TNDC) commitment to help San Francisco’s low‑income communities thrive by building affordable housing was energized by an electrification project at its SOMA Studio and Family Apartments (SOMA Apartments) in 2020. The effort is supported by a $633,000 award from California Climate Investments through the Department of Community Services and Development’s Low Income Weatherization Program’s (LIWP) Multi‑Family component. With that money and contributions from other local energy efficiency programs, TNDC kept utility bills low for residents while electrifying major central building systems and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Built in 2003, the SOMA Apartments include 162 homes with more than 60 percent of its households classified as extremely low‑income (earning less than 30 percent of the area median income).

Training and Partnerships Bring Community Solar to Low-Income Households

California Department of Community Services and Development

Thanks to $2 million from California Climate Investments through the Low‑Income Weatherization Program, GRID Alternatives Inland Empire is implementing the Community Solar Pilot project, the first community solar array in California specifically designed to benefit low‑income households. Situated on Santa Rosa Band of Cahuilla Indian tribal lands in Riverside County, the Community Solar Pilot project will not only lower energy costs for tribal members and other low‑income households but also provided an opportunity for tribal members to gain valuable experience as solar installation trainees.

California Climate Investments | Cap-and-Trade Dollars at Work