SUPPORTING COMMUNITIES DURING DISASTERS: CDFA GRANTS $38 MILLION TO IMPROVE RESILIENCE CENTERS ACROSS THE STATE

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SACRAMENTO, November 1, 2023 - Furthering the California Department of Food and Agriculture’s (CDFA) efforts to support communities during disasters, CDFA’s Fairs and Expositions Branch today announced the awarding of $38 million in grants as part of the Community Resilience Centers Program. The grants will support resiliency projects at neighborhood-level community centers throughout the state. The funding for the grants program was appropriated as part of the 2021-2022 California general fund budget. In May 2023, CDFA announced a related round of $89 million in grant funding for emergency shelters and infrastructure at California’s fairgrounds.

The resilience centers will enhance emergency preparedness capabilities, particularly in response to climate change impacts. Funding will be used to support infrastructure for evacuations, shelters, and base camps during emergency events. The projects and sites that have been selected were also evaluated to consider their potential to provide spaces that the community can use outside of contingency times. The grants will equip facilities and provide spaces that can be used year-round to offer services and activities geared to strengthen local communities through civic, social, educational, and economic development programming. Business incubation centers, satellite college campus facilities, and telemedicine centers are among the viable concepts. 
 
“When disasters and emergencies happen, Californians often look to local community centers for refuge, information and guidance,” said CDFA Secretary Karen Ross. “These grants will strengthen our communities’ ability to provide shelter and extend services during emergency events, and the improvements will also benefit residents who use these centers throughout the rest of the year as well.”
 
A committee of reviewers carefully studied the applications to ensure the projects proposed were in line with the Community Resilience Centers Program’s requirements and objectives. The selected projects encompass a variety of resilience center elements, while focusing on serving the disadvantaged areas of their communities, and will provide over 142,000 square feet of sheltering and evacuation space for use during emergency events. 
  
Planning and construction work related to the Community Resilience Centers is expected to begin in early 2024. The complete list of grant awardees and summaries of their projects can be found at: https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/FairsAndExpositions/fcrcp/.
 

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