The city of Los Angeles will receive $9.5 million in federal funding for multiple community-based projects.
Mayor Eric Garcetti announced the funding Wednesday, attributing it to U.S. President Joe Biden signing the 2022 consolidated appropriations law on Tuesday.
“There’s nobody fighting harder for their residents back home than our local and state representatives in Washington,” Garcetti said. “Thanks to their tireless advocacy, Angelenos will directly benefit from federal investments that will inject new opportunity, prosperity, and resilience into our communities – creating safe places to empower young people, expanding programs that reimagine how we deliver public safety, and laying the foundation for a more sustainable future.”
The funding will be specifically, The allocated to the 9-1-1 CIRCLE project, the Sepulveda Basin Complex, restoration of the L.A. River, the Highland Park Youth Arts Center, and neighborhood cooling projects in Boyle Heights, Fairfax and Warner Center Park.
The project funding comes after advocacy from senators Dianne Feinstein, Alex Padilla, as well as representatives Ted Lieu, Brad Sherman and Jimmy Gomez.
“I came to Washington to fight for the needs of California’s 34th Congressional District,” Rep. Gomez said in a statement. “With over $9 million in federal funding for vital community projects, we have taken another step in furtherance of that mission. These investments will directly provide benefits to my constituents across the district, including tackling urban heat in Boyle Heights, refurbishing the Highland Park Youth Arts Center, and increasing access to the Los Angeles River while restoring its ecosystems.”
Allocation of the funding will go to the following:
- $1.5 million from Senators Dianne Feinstein, Alex Padilla, and Representative Ted Lieu to expand CIRCLE, a program that Garcetti launched in 2021, that diverts non-violent homelessness-related emergency calls that they feel could be better resolved through “unarmed professionals” instead of armed police.
- $3 million from Representative Brad Sherman for a new community space at the Sepulveda Basin Complex.
- $1.7 million from Representative Jimmy Gomez for more than 700 acres of habitat restoration along an 11-mile stretch of the L.A. River.
- $1 million from Representative Jimmy Gomez for improvements to the Highland Park Youth Arts Center.
- $1 million from Representative Jimmy Gomez for a neighborhood cooling project in Boyle Heights.
- $1 million from Representative Ted Lieu for a neighborhood cooling project in the Fairfax district.
- $250,000 from Representative Brad Sherman for new community cooling capabilities at the Warner Center Park.
