Rep. Judy Chu Secures Over $17 Million for San Gabriel Valley Projects

Press Release

Today, Rep. Judy Chu (CA-27) announced that she secured the inclusion of $17,650,000 for nine San Gabriel Valley projects in the FY 2022 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations, Labor, Health and Human Services, Education Appropriations, and Energy and Water Development Appropriations bills. These vital projects include expanding free public WiFi in Pasadena, building affordable housing, creating a new mobile health clinic, and cleaning up groundwater in the San Gabriel Basin. Rep. Chu issued the following statement:

"As the Representative from the San Gabriel Valley, one of my top priorities in Congress is fighting for the federal funds needed to help us grow and address urgent climate, healthcare, and infrastructure needs. That is why I am thrilled to announce that three House Appropriations bills for Fiscal Year 2022 include over $17 million in federal funding for our area -- funding that I supported and included as my top legislative asks. Southern California faces a multitude of challenges, from unaffordable housing to shrinking water supplies. And this funding will help us with all of them by investing in local infrastructure, ecosystem restoration, affordable housing, and more.

"Specifically, the funding will promote partnerships that help more students prepare for and succeed in college; create a mobile clinic to increase access to healthcare; clean up the groundwater in the San Gabriel and Central Basin, which provides 90% of drinking water for 1.8 million residents; improve access to, signage at, and safety of the San Gabriel Mountains; provide free public WiFi in Pasadena parks; and more.

"This is making our tax dollars work for us, and I could not be more proud that these investments have been included. However, this is still just the start of our work to build back better, and I am committed to ensuring that these projects make it through the appropriations process and are signed into law."

Rep. Chu secured nine Community Project Funding requests from the House Appropriations Committee. Summaries of those nine project requests are included below:

Labor, Health and Human Services, Education

$200,000 to East Los Angeles College (ELAC) for the establishment of a collaborative partnership, staffed by students and faculty, between ELAC and local school districts, local governments, and community organizations. The partnership will involve establishing webinars, workshops, tours, and college resource centers to promote college access, family engagement, academic preparation, and college success and retention. By involving the entire family in the college preparation process, this program will provide more students from underrepresented backgrounds with the opportunity to pursue and succeed in higher education.
$150,000 to Via Care Community Health Center for a community-based health access project using a mobile clinic, the Via Care Health Access Express. Beginning operations in 2022, the mobile unit will have one medical exam room, a laboratory space, an intake area, and a restroom, and will collaborate with community-based organizations, elected officials, and East Los Angeles College in the district to dock the mobile and provide medical and wellness services where needed. Funds from this Community Project Fund will help Via Care purchase the medical mobile unit and install IT equipment and software.. At full capacity, the Via Care Health Access Express will provide 2,000 medical visits per year on the mobile to residents of CA-27.
$1 million to the nonprofit Parents Anonymous for a new First Responder System, a mental health project focused on targeted outreach to Asian, Latinx and Black/African American families. This First Responder System incorporates compassionate and trained Helpline Counselors who provide free, accessible, and culturally responsive emotional support in both English and Spanish (and other languages, including Asian languages) by responding to calls, live chats and texts 8 am - 8 pm 7 days a week. In addition, these counselors facilitate highly effective Weekly Online Parents Anonymous Groups where diverse Parents and Caregivers address their underlying emotional issues and build their resiliency to strengthen their families.
Energy and Water Development

$10 million the San Gabriel Basin Water Quality Authority for groundwater cleanup in the San Gabriel Basin and the Central Basin in Southern California. It will support activities at 32 active groundwater cleanup projects that use the latest technology to remove contaminants. The Basin provides 90% of the drinking water supplies for over 1.8 million residents, of which more than 400,000 are in disadvantaged communities.
Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development

$3 million to the San Gabriel Valley Regional Housing Trust (SGVRHT) for site acquisition, construction and capital improvements of affordable housing developments. Subgrantees are restricted to nonprofit developers or cities that are constructing the homeless housing or affordable housing projects.. The SGVRHT affordable housing project pipeline identifies 1,188 units of affordable housing in developments proposed in 11 San Gabriel Valley cities that could advance to construction if provided relatively modest federal funding.
$995,000 to the nonprofit Nature for All for the creation of equitable public transit routes into the Angeles National Forest and San Gabriel Mountains National Monument, providing access and environmental justice for diverse, underserved communities across the Los Angeles basin. The funding will include design and construction of five shuttle stops and a one-month pilot weekend shuttle service operation, with workforce stipends for naturalist staff and visitor services technicians recruited from the local community to provide visitor interpretation and stewardship education.
$125,000 to the nonprofit Amigos de los Rios for multi-cultural visitor reception trail safety, wayfinding, and interpretive signage for key locations within the Angeles National Forest. The project will produce and install a new conservation education signage system at recreation sites to ensure consistent information is share with visitors in an inclusive manner.
$1.5 million to the City of Pasadena for the completion of free Public Wifi to the remaining 18 parks and park facilities in the City to further increase access to broadband for underserved communities, students and all residents. In the past five years, the City of Pasadena deployed free Public WiFi to 15 of 33 city parks and park-facilities. Usage metrics show over 1,000 unique connections accessing this service daily and over 40,000 connections annually, a 100% increase in usage over the last year. Free Public WiFi in city parks and park facilities provides all residents and students reliable access to broadband, supports digital learning, encourages digital inclusion efforts and offers safe space for all to work, study, communicate, apply for services and participate in the digital economy. Expanding broadband connectivity for public safety and essential services improves resiliency of critical services.
$680,000 to the City of Alhambra for a Comprehensive Sustainability Plan to meet city's current environmental, economic, and other needs without compromising the ability of future generations to do the same. In order to understand and develop appropriate sustainability goals, the plan will provide important sustainability information, empower the Council and the community, and motivate actions and commitments toward various indicators including affordable housing, open space, land use development, solid waste, energy and water use, renewable energy, greenhouse emissions, mobility, transportation, and economic vitality.

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