Focus on Arts and Ecology

Dear Jon,

Yesterday, the California state legislature agreed to invest $100 million over the next three years into creating resilience hubs across the state.

As wildfires, smoke and extreme heat threaten communities across California, these resources couldn’t come at a better time. Resilience hubs -- trusted community institutions like libraries, schools and senior centers where our communities can access resources before, during and after disasters hit -- are exactly the type of community-led solution that needs investment right now. This was a huge win for communities on the frontlines of fighting climate change.

We weren’t able to secure these resources without a fight. Six months ago, few legislators had heard the term “resilience hubs,” and although our Resilience Before Disaster report had built significant momentum among community resilience advocates, we knew this was going to be an uphill battle. When AB 1087 was turned into a two-year bill in April, we worried that we would have to wait until 2022 before the legislature would invest in keeping our communities safe when disaster hits.

Then, the tide began to turn. As the legislature debated what to do with California’s budget surplus, a chorus of voices spoke out in support of funding for resilience hubs. Advocates and community members like you wrote op-eds pointing out the inequities in the state’s climate resilience investments, called and emailed your legislators, and lifted up examples of projects that need funding on social media. One staffer in the administration told me, “I can’t open Twitter without seeing the words ‘resilience hubs’!”

Our Richmond youth leaders, who have been leading this work from the very beginning, joined allies and environmental justice advocates for two virtual lobby days with over a dozen key legislators, lifting up the groundbreaking work they are already doing to create a resilience hub in Richmond and the difference that state funding for resilience hubs could make for communities like theirs across the state.

Whether you joined us for a lobby day, wrote to your legislators, or spoke up on Twitter, thank you. Without you, we wouldn’t have this victory to build on.

We also want to send a huge thank you to the Governor’s office, who went to bat for this priority over the last few weeks, and the many legislators who spoke with us and urged their colleagues to fund these investments.

This is just a start -- it’s not the $350 million we asked for, and it’s nowhere near the level of funding that would be needed to create a resilience hub in every neighborhood in California that needs one.

But it provides a foundation for us to build on -- and that is exactly what we will do. Next year, we will be ramping up this campaign and calling for deeper and more transformative investments in community resilience. I know you’ll be right there with us.

For today, let’s celebrate this win. Thank you so much for supporting our campaign to make sure our communities are resourced and connected when disaster strikes. We couldn’t do this without you.

In solidarity,

Amee Raval
Policy and Research Director, APEN

APEN is an environmental justice organization with deep roots in California’s Asian immigrant and refugee communities. Since 1993, we’ve been fighting--and winning--campaigns to make our communities healthier, just places where people can thrive.

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