For Immediate Release
Media Contact:
Julie Du Brow, 310-922-1301
Julie@dubroworks.com
Boyle Heights Arts Conservatory Hosts a Community Day as it Expands as a Resilience Hub for the Neighborhood through US Green Building Council-LA’s 2021 Legacy Project
Project to Serve as a Resilience Hub Model for the City of LA
LOS ANGELES (November 2, 2021) The Boyle Heights Arts Conservatory (BHRC), along with representatives from the Office of Mayor Garcetti, the U.S. Green Building Council-Los Angeles (USGBC-LA) and local community leaders, will host a community day, as the Conservatory expands its local offerings as the ‘Boyle Heights Resilience Hub’. Located at 2708 E. Cesar E. Chavez, Ave. in Los Angeles, the activities will be held on Saturday, November 13, 2021, from 10:00am-1:00pm. Everyone is welcome.
Proposed by a partnership of the Boyle Heights Arts Conservatory, the Office of Mayor Eric Garcetti, Climate Resolve, the American Red Cross, LADWP, and the Urban Sustainability Directors Network (USDN), the Boyle Heights Resilience Hub was selected as the USGBC-LA’s sixth Legacy Project. Each year, USGBC-LA provides a regional project $20,000 in funding–along with design, strategy and project management support, and member volunteers–to install a permanent project that is replicable and provides an enduring means of service and education.
The Legacy Project support will help BHAC grow as a Resilience Hub, intended to serve as a community-based resource and information center before, during and after any major emergency or disaster. The Hub, striving to be a model for other City resilience hubs, can provide a variety of uses and resources – from meeting/gathering space, to emergency preparedness and first aid training, to backup power/charging, to water and essential supply distribution, to childcare.
“Communities are their own best resource before, during and after any disaster. By partnering with a trusted local and long-serving community-based organization like the Boyle Heights Arts Conservatory, we can help provide resources and information so the entire community is better prepared and better able to recover from the shocks or challenges confronting Boyle Heights specifically,” states Aaron Gross, Chief Resilience Officer, City of Los Angeles.
Several project goals for growing the BHAC as a Resilience Hub include:
- Providing BHAC support including but not limited to staff, materials and trainings from the LA Fire Department and Emergency Management Department
- Getting prepared, through trainings, to temporarily be a hub for sheltering and basic human needs during a disaster
- Becoming as physically resilient and sustainable as possible, in terms of water and power – through provided expertise, smart infrastructure, safe water, innovative technologies and resources
- Ensuring the Conservatory is advised on its structural integrity, and resilient & sustainable design, and offering materials and sustainability-focused workshops
- Enhance existing job/vocational training programs with resilience/green components
The beneficiary of the project is the Boyle Heights neighborhood, which according to the LA Times is roughly 100,000 people and over 90% Latino, is among the most vulnerable communities in the City of LA with older building stock, higher density, poor air quality, insufficient trees, shade and open space and increasing number of severe heat days.
“We embrace the opportunity to work with our partners to provide valuable and much needed resources, support, and services to our community as a top priority. We are honored to provide a strong and sustainable commitment to serve Boyle Heights,” states Carmelita Ramirez-Sanchez, BHRC Executive Director.
In support of the above goals, the Nov. 13th event will offer:
- Indoor and outdoor air quality monitor installation at the Conservatory
- Giveaways of free trees (fruit and shade) from NorthEast Trees as well as First Aid Kits from the American Red Cross
- Activity booths from local partners
- Screen printing activities
- Volunteer opportunities:
- Deep cleaning, reorganizing and minor repairs as needed
- Community Gardening
- Community Clean Up
“The Legacy Project is an important hands-on opportunity to help foster equity citywide through USGBC-LA’s core values of sustainability, resilience and community,” states Katie Freeze, Legacy Chair, and Sustainability Manager for Leading Edge. “By acknowledging the systemic barriers that have disenfranchised many of our most vibrant neighborhoods, and centering the voices of those who most need to be heard, the Legacy Project program serves to amplify and support the essential work already being done in our communities every day for people and for the planet.”
Ben Stapleton, USGBC-LA Executive Director, adds, “The Boyle Heights Resilience Hub speaks directly to our values here at USGBC-LA to leverage the built environment to increase the sustainability and resilience of our local communities. Our hope is that this Legacy Project can be a model that scales into other communities throughout our region, providing additional resources, capacity, and connections for us to better weather the increasing impacts of climate change.”
Past impactful Legacy Projects include the EcoTech Makerspace in Gardena (2016), the Veggie Bus Project in South Central LA, the EcoUrban / Arroyo HS garden in El Monte, and more. For more information on this year’s Legacy Project and the November 13th event, or to apply for the 2022 project RFP, please visit the Legacy Project page. If you’d like to contribute to this project or any other sponsorship support, please email ben@usgbc-la.org.
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About U.S. Green Building Council-Los Angeles
USGBC-LA is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization committed to creating a prosperous and sustainable future within one generation. Our mission promotes sustainability in Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Riverside Counties’ built environment by delivering access to knowledge, resources, recognition and networking. (www.usgbc-la.org)
About Boyle Heights Arts Conservatory
Boyle Heights Arts Conservatory supports and advocates for a new framework for viewing diversity in creative arts, media, and technology. We train a workforce that is inclusive and reflective of Los Angeles in ethnicity, age, gender, socially and economically. Our mission-driven work focuses on creating career pathways in film, television, broadcasting, music production, and digital media arts.
