Santa Barbara County Regional Climate Collaborative Selects Sites to Become Resilience Hubs

Three Sites to Be in Collaborative Pilot Project

Wed Nov 02, 2022 | 10:58am

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(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) – The Santa Barbara County Regional Climate Collaborative  (Collaborative) is pleased to announce three sites selected to participate in the Resilience  Hubs program. A resilience hub is a community-serving facility that can coordinate  resource distribution and services before, during and/or after a natural hazard event. 

After a competitive application and review process, three sites were selected: 

Blue Sky Center is a large post-industrial property including seven buildings on  267 acres, built in 1950 by Richfield Oil Company (now ARCO) in New Cuyama.  Blue Sky provides cultural activities and economic development opportunities to  the community in addition to mobilizing resources during COVID and other  emergencies. The site has existing solar which covers a small portion of its  electricity use. “We at Blue Sky Center are honored to participate in the pilot  Resilience Hub Project. The Cuyama Valley faces many climate-affected hazards  that we as a Cuyama community are actively working together to identify, assess,  and mitigate; the Resilience Hub concept planning project will provide resources  and expertise to support Cuyama’s community-led work,” says Jack Forinash, Blue  Sky Center Executive Director. 

Franklin Neighborhood Center and Eastside Library in Santa Barbara houses  leased space for a medical clinic, commercial kitchen, multi-purpose meeting  rooms and teen programs, digital access, and literacy and education support  resources. The library has existing solar (meeting approximately 60% of the facility  ‘s energy needs) and has several planned electric vehicle chargers. Both sites  provide critical services to the Eastside community during emergencies.  

Sites Selected for Resilience Hubs Program 

“Resilience Hubs are a central component of ensuring that our community has the  critical resources, security, and information it needs during disasters to weather  and recover from even the greatest adversity. By participating in this pilot, we will  ensure that we are designing these assets to be able to serve our entire community  when it needs it the most,” says Alelia Parenteau, Acting Director of the City of  Santa Barbara Sustainability & Resilience Department. 

Girls Inc. of Carpinteria provides year-round programming for girls and their  families at its facility which includes classrooms, a STEM lab, library, conference  room, gymnasium, kitchen, offices and outdoor spaces. Girls Inc. recently opened  a 24/7 community food pantry, a clothing closet for women and girls and now offers  mental health services. “We are proud to participate in the Resilience Hubs  program, ensuring that we are prepared with all the resources to respond to our  community’s needs amid an emergency or natural disaster,” said Jamie Collins,  executive director of Girls Inc. of Carpinteria. “Our mission and the work we do  each day at Girls Inc. embodies resilience – and this pilot program enables us to  further our commitment to serving local girls, families and the community by  serving as a space for preparedness, response and recovery.”  

“Each site and organization have a unique context with strengths and opportunities,” says  Erin Maker, Environmental Manager for the City of Carpinteria and Steering Committee  Chair of the Collaborative, “We’re thrilled to find out what we can learn from the  experience of supporting these community institutions in enhancing their resilience.” 

The Resilience Hubs program will provide site hosts a technical site audit and  recommendations to implement energy resilience improvements, support to engage the  public and develop inclusive decision-making processes for the future hub, and up to  $15,000 to offset the costs of participation. Funding for the program comes from a  $200,000 grant from the California Resilience Challenge and a $25,000 grant from PG&E.  

To learn more about the program and the sites and sign up for updates, visit the  Resources section at www.countyofsb.org/collaborative. 

About the Santa Barbara County Regional Climate Collaborative The Collaborative is a growing multi-sector network of organizations working together to  advance climate mitigation and resiliency efforts in Santa Barbara County. The  Collaborative advances regional scale climate solutions through coordination and  partnership. The County of Santa Barbara launched the Collaborative with funding from  the Board of Supervisors and currently serves as the fiscal sponsor. To learn more, visit  www.countyofsb.org/collaborative. For information about Santa Barbara County government, go to www.CountyofSB.org

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