Community Resilience Center coming to Coachella

Coachella Awarded $10 million Community Resilience Center (CRC) Grant

Funds will be utilized to develop a multi-faceted CRC Campus for the community

COACHELLA, Calif. (May 2, 2024) - The California Strategic Growth Council has awarded the City of Coachella a Community Resilience Center (CRC) Implementation Grant Award of $10-milion dollars to help further the City's goal of making Coachella a more climate resilient community. Funding will be utilized to retrofit an existing facility previously known as Hidden Harvest on Peter Rabbit Lane into the new Coachella Community Resilience Center, which will function as an emergency shelter, food and business incubator hub, garden space, resource center, and workforce training and development center. Partners that will assist with implementation of the CRC plan include GRID Alternatives Inland Empire, Hidden Harvest, The LEAP Institute, University of California, Berkeley, and the County of Riverside Emergency Management Department

"Having all of these essential services housed under one roof at our new Resilience Center is a huge step in the right direction," stated Mayor Steven Hernandez. "The $30 million we secured over the past few months, coupled with an additional $20 million we are pursuing are all earmarked for the continued expansion of accessible resources for our residents that will continue helping enhance their quality of life."

The Coachella CRC will work through community-driven partnerships and programming to integrate physical infrastructure components such as solar panels, pet sheltering, solar generators, zero emission rideshare transportation with social infrastructure elements such as small business incubation, workforce training and development programs, demonstration gardens and other nature-based solutions and food security. These elements are expected to increase climate resilience, expand economic opportunities, and reduce health, environmental, and social inequities.

The City aims to create the resources necessary for residents with a long history of disinvestment and hardships to thrive with access to the CRC campus that will function as an emergency shelter, food hub, business incubator, and educational center. The CRC will prioritize flexibility, sustainability, and accessibility in its design to accommodate all individuals' needs, including the community's priority populations.