FY23 Community Project Funding Requests

To meet urgent needs of communities across the United States, the House Appropriations Committee has invited Members of Congress to request funding for projects in their communities. All requests submitted to the Appropriations Committee serve as an important step in the appropriations process, and the Committee will carefully review requests as it develops fiscal year 2023 appropriations bills.

 

These requests are subject to strict transparency and accountability rules, which can be found here (https://appropriations.house.gov/sites/democrats.appropriations.house.gov/files/Fact%20Sheet%20on%20Reforms%202023.pdf). As part of the important reforms associated with Community Project Funding, the Committee requires Members to certify that neither they nor their immediate families have any financial interest in projects they request. 

 

 

 

 

NOTE: The projects are listed in no particular order.

 

Subcommittee/Agency/Account: Labor, Health and Human Services, Education - Office of Innovation and Improvement

Project Name: Restoration of William Cook Auditorium at Anaheim High School

Recipient: Anaheim Union High School District

Address: 501 N Crescent Way, Anaheim, CA 92801

Amount Requested: $2 million

Project Description and Explanation: The Cook Auditorium at Anaheim High School is a historically rich building to both AUHSD and the Anaheim community at large. The two-level, 1280 seat auditorium has been host to numerous school and community events since the original construction in 1935. AUHSD hopes to bring new life to this architecturally astounding building with much needed modernization/restoration work. The request is to for funding specifically for the theatre and performing arts portion of the modernization plans. This includes determining the need for new stage lighting, sound boards, speakers, microphones, projectors, and other professional technology that is required for the production of theatre shows, band performances, and other performing arts events at the venue.

 Signed Disclosure Letter: HERE

 

Subcommittee/Agency/Account: Labor, Health and Human Services, Education - SAMHSA

Project Name: Expanding Youth Mental Health Support in Anaheim

Recipient: Anaheim Community Foundation

Address: 200 S. Anaheim Blvd., Ste 433, Anaheim, CA 92805

Amount Requested: $1 million

Project Description and Explanation: This project supports an expansion of programs and spectrum of service provided by a collaboration of youth serving organizations it oversees to provide an additional 500 youth with high touch mental health support and an additional 5,000 youth with new mental health/wellness resources. The collaboration is between several local nonprofits for a coordinated approach on mental health, and funding will go toward covering the cost of each of nonprofits (staffing, delivery costs, etc).

Signed Disclosure Letter: HERE

 

Subcommittee/Agency/Account: Labor, Health and Human Services, Education - Administration for Children and Families (ACF)

Project Name: Behavioral Health Families and Children’s Campus

Recipient: County of Orange

Address: 333 W. Santa Ana Blvd, Santa Ana, CA 92701

Amount Requested: $5 million

Project Description and Explanation: In January 2021, the County of Orange opened its first payor agnostic mental health treatment campus, Be Well, in central Orange County. To date, its programs are at capacity. The demands for the programs demonstrate the need to provide mental health treatment regardless of payment source. As the country re-opens following the countrywide shutdown from COVID-19, the mental health of Orange County’s children is at the forefront of its residents’ minds. 

Signed Disclosure Letter: HERE

 

Subcommittee/Agency/Account: Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development - HUD Community Planning and Development, Economic Development Initiatives

Project Name: Downtown Business Improvements Initiative

Recipient: City of Santa Ana

Address: 20 Civic Center Plaza, Santa Ana, CA 92701

Amount Requested: $2,500,000

Project Description and Explanation: In response to the downtown business community's input, the City has developed an economic initiative of improvements to enhance access to and customer and patron appeal for the downtown shopping and dining area that supports over 600 local businesses and over 25 local community events. This initiative includes two major infrastructure improvements. The first is the installation of a dedicated wireless network throughout the City's Business Improvement District; and would utilize 20 meshed access points (APs) covering the streets, plus support for in-building coverage and services. The second component is the funding of critically needed upgrades on the City’s current downtown parking structures for visitor, customer and employee use. While there are three downtown parking facilities, the most impacted is the one that is located near the Orange County Streetcar line (Garage B, 700 spaces). The planned improvements for this parking facility would include elevator repairs, lighting, signage, security cameras, and ADA access. This location is being significantly impacted by the construction of the OC line, causing economic disruption. 

Signed Disclosure Letter: HERE

 

Subcommittee/Agency/Account: Labor, Health and Human Services, Education - Office of Innovation and Improvement

Project Name: Workforce Development Pathways Targeting Dislocated and At-Risk Populations

Recipient: Santa Ana College

Address: 1530 W 17th St, Santa Ana, CA 92706

Amount Requested: $2 million

Project Description and Explanation: This project will develop complete career education (CTE) pathways for disadvantaged, dislocated or at-risk adult learners that start in non-credit courses (for CTE skill development and prep for credit programs, basic skills, English) and transition to credit certificate and degree programs. The project will create pathways for in-demand occupations and careers in the region to diversify the workforce and broaden engagement and access by marginalized populations. The project will enable dislocated workers, un- and under-employed and working poor to enter occupations that earn family-sustaining wages.

Signed Disclosure Letter: HERE

 

Subcommittee/Agency/Account: Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development - HUD Community Planning and Development, Economic Development Initiatives

Project Name: Veteran Housing Assistance Program

Recipient: American Veterans Assistance Group

Address: 326 W. Katella Ave. #4-L, Orange, CA 92687

Amount Requested: $1 million

Project Description and Explanation: AVAG currently provides mobile home options for low-income veterans throughout SoCal, as well as financial and handicap assistance to veterans and their families through the following programs: Affordable Home Purchase Program, Down Payment Assistance, Move-in Rent, Financing Options, and Handicap Assistance. AVAG also provides charitable, community-based programs such as food drives, home improvement resources, furniture distributions, clothing donations, referrals to career training and VA benefits, as well as recreation opportunities within AVAG’s mobile home communities. The request is to increase the capacity of the non-profit’s work to provide services for additional vulnerable veterans. 

Signed Disclosure Letter: HERE

 

Subcommittee/Agency/Account: Labor, Health and Human Services, Education - Employment and Training Administration (ETA)

Project Name: Hope Builders

Recipient: Taller San Jose Hope Builders

Address: 801 N. Broadway, Santa Ana, CA 92701

Amount Requested: $500,000

Project Description and Explanation: Funding will be targeted to skills training and employment placements services for 200 Orange County low-income young adults facing significant barriers such as re-entry after incarceration, transitional aged foster youth, DACA, victims of domestic violence, and those with young families.

Signed Disclosure Letter: HERE

 

Subcommittee/Agency/Account: Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development - HUD Community Planning and Development, Economic Development Initiatives

Project Name: Santiago Creek Festival Grounds

Recipient: Discovery Cube Orange County

Address: 2500 N Main St, Santa Ana, CA 92705

Amount Requested: $2 million

Project Description and Explanation: The project will acquire adjacent blighted property to create a community facility and give families the comfort of exploring in a safe place outside their home. This sustainably designed facility will be located along the Santiago Creek.  The area adjacent to the Cube is currently a motel that has a history of serving as a magnet for crime. For the last four years, the Cube has been meeting with local community groups and the City of Santa Ana on this property. From 2019 to the present, the Santa Ana Police Department has received more than 440 calls for service at the property and has been the source of frequent community complaints.  The City’s Code Enforcement Division inspected the property and discovered more than 140 violations of state building codes, including unsafe modifications, rodent and vermin infestations, lack of working smoke detectors, and other violations caused by a lack of proper maintenance.  Many adjacent businesses and residents in the area have felt the negative impact from the people that frequent this hotel.  There is vast community support for this project as both residents and businesses believe that the only way to transform this portion of the underserved community, is to acquire, demolish and rebuild this property into a community asset.

Signed Disclosure Letter: HERE

 

Subcommittee/Agency/Account: Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development - HUD Community Planning and Development, Economic Development Initiatives

Project Name: Orange County Housing Finance Trust

Recipient: Orange County Housing Finance Trust

Address: 333 W Santa Ana Way, Santa Ana, 92701

Amount Requested: $3 million

Project Description and Explanation: The funding would be used for site acquisition, construction and capital improvements of affordable housing developments as prioritized by the Trust Board of Directors. California is facing an acute shortage of affordable housing units and homeless housing. The Trust’s affordable housing project pipeline identifies over 900 units of affordable housing in developments across OC that could advance to construction if provided relatively modest federal funding. This project will continue the proactive work of the Trust to build new affordable units in OC. This funding will be combined with other sources in the same projects that will facilitate the construction of over 136 affordable and permanent supportive units by 2024.  This funding will additionally include the stimulus of construction jobs, the creation of affordable and supportive housing which would achieve multiple benefits to the region, and the ending of homelessness for many of our neighbors.  

Signed Disclosure Letter: HERE

 

Subcommittee/Agency/Account: Labor, Health and Human Services, Education - Office of Innovation and Improvement

Project Name: Earth Systems Science and Data Solutions Lab: Promoting the Integration of Earth Observations for Sustainable Development Goals

Recipient: Chapman University

Address: 1 University Dr, Orange, CA 92866

Amount Requested: $5 million

Project Description and Explanation: Chapman University’s Earth Systems and Data Solutions Lab (EssDs) proposes to advance groundbreaking Earth Observation (EO) research to provide reliable, accurate, and timely data, information, and forecasts that will contribute to local, regional, and national efforts to meet the United Nation’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’s goals. Financial support will be applied, but not limited to, the following: Building the computationally demanding infrastructure needed, many postdoctoral hires, graduate and undergraduate student involvement, graduate research assistantships, summer salary for faculty, conference participation, publication fees, software, hardware, data acquisition, and purchasing of very expensive satellite images and data storage capabilities. The research produced by the Chapman EssDs team will help local, state, and federal policy-makers better plan for, and mitigate against, the impacts of climate change in terms of land use planning, emergency preparedness, and other approaches. 

Signed Disclosure Letter: HERE

 

Subcommittee/Agency/Account: Labor, Health and Human Services, Education - Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)

Project Name: Acquisition and installation of a pediatric interventional radiology equipment for treating children with complex medical issues

Recipient: Children's Health of Orange County (CHOC)

Address: 1201 W La Veta Ave, Orange, CA 92868

Amount Requested: $1,500,000

Project Description and Explanation: CHOC is the only children’s hospital in SoCal offering IR services provided by a pediatric-trained IR sub-specialist.  To support those IR services, the hospital is seeking federal funding to join with private funds to purchase a new cutting-edge image-guided therapy system to expand access and capacity to treat medically complex patients, who currently face wait times upwards of six weeks due to the current wait list.  Reducing the amount of time to reach a diagnosis can make a tremendous difference in outcomes for many diseases, allowing treatment to begin sooner and saving lives. The equipment can also be used by all specialties at the hospital.  IR is the technique of using minimally invasive and image guided procedures to assist in diagnosing and treating a variety of illnesses and diseases.  It can also reduce complications, reduce infection, reduce the length of hospitalization, and result in faster recovery of patients. Interventional Radiology can be utilized by several service lines, including: Oncology (Cancer), Cardiology, Orthopedics, Endocrine, Urology, Neuroscience, Gastrointestinal, General Surgery, Critical Care, Hospital Medicine, and Infectious Diseases.  

Signed Disclosure Letter: HERE

 

Subcommittee/Agency/Account: Energy - Department of Energy

Project Name: Anaheim Sustainability Education Center

Recipient: City of Anaheim

Address: 201 S Anaheim Blvd #107, Anaheim, CA 92805

Amount Requested: $6 million

Project Description and Explanation: The City of Anaheim requests federal funding to support the equipping of the Anaheim Sustainability Education Center (SEC) – a regional resource to educate residents on the benefits of renewable energy, electric transportation, and water technologies, and to prepare students for sustainability careers in STEM-related fields. This new facility will demonstrate new technologies, host seminars, provide job training, and provide educational programming. Located adjacent to a disadvantaged community, the SEC will provide essential pathways for jobs in construction, engineering, and environmental science. The SEC will reinvigorate a community with an amenity that provides sustainability education, student programs, job skills training, Electric Vehicle (EV) charging displays, energy efficiency technologies, and a water conservation demonstration garden. Located in an industrial park adjacent to a disadvantaged community, the parcel is currently an unused, dilapidated facility used primarily for storage. The goal is to establish a community facility that would promote sustainability initiatives and career opportunities for nearby residents. Additionally, there are three elementary schools and a high school within walking distance that would enable after-school programming to enrich the lives of the students as they learn about the importance of sustainability in energy and water. The scope of the requested funds does not support building construction.

Signed Disclosure Letter: HERE

 

Subcommittee/Agency/Account: Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development - HUD Community Planning and Development, Economic Development Initiatives

Project Name: Santa Ana-Garden Grove Rails to Trails

Recipient: Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA)

Address: 550 S. Main Street, Orange, CA 92868

Amount Requested: $3 million

Project Description and Explanation: The Garden Grove - Santa Ana Rails-to-Trails Gap Closure will increase the use of active transportation travel modes, provide a no-cost, zero-emission transportation alternative, enhance safety and mobility for non-motorized users, facilitating travel away from high-speed and high-volume traffic in several disadvantaged communities. This trail project will link two downtown cities and connect to the Santa Ana River Trail, part of 66-mile Class I OC Loop bikeway, which is 88% complete. The OC Loop connects to beaches, 200 parks, 180 schools, three Metrolink stations and 17 cities. Additionally, the project will result in greenhouse gas emissions, improved air quality, and public health in communities with higher-than-average rates of asthma and cardiovascular disease.

Signed Disclosure Letter: HERE

 

Subcommittee/Agency/Account: Labor, Health and Human Services, Education - Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)

Project Name: Care Traffic Control

Recipient: Orange County Health Authority (CalOptima)

Address: 505 City Pkwy W, Orange, CA 92868

Amount Requested: $5 million

Project Description and Explanation: CalOptima’s Care Traffic Control initiative would establish a single coordinated data system to digitally manage the health of Orange County’s Medi-Cal beneficiaries across the continuum of care. Health care workers, social service providers and law enforcement would be able to access patient history, facilitate real-time navigation to resources, and record information to support predictive modeling that will anticipate future needs. Currently, there are several barriers to coordinated care for both unhoused and housed Medi-Cal beneficiaries in Orange County. Notably, the lack of centralized data sharing prevents health and social service providers from accessing the history of each encountered member. As the sole Medi-Cal managed care plan in Orange County, CalOptima currently serves nearly 880,000 members, including more than 10,000 members that may be experiencing homelessness.

Signed Disclosure Letter: HERE

 

Subcommittee/Agency/Account: Interior - EPA, Clean Water State Revolving Fund

Project Name: Supercritical Water Oxidation Project

Recipient: Orange County Sanitation District 

Address: 10844 Ellis Ave, Fountain Valley, CA 92708

Amount Requested: $5,500,000

Project Description and Explanation: In an effort to address contamination and treatment concerns of PFAS in wastewater, OC San will construct a six-ton-per-day demonstration project called AirSCWO Nix6. This process uses water at a high temperature and pressure to oxidize complex compound materials into more basic and benign compounds. Once built, AirSCWO Nix6 can provide opportunities to solve other challenges facing OC San, including: Costs of solids processing, Air emission requirements for methane and power generation equipment, Treatment of emerging contaminants such as PFAS compounds, Treatment of microplastics, Food waste utilization; Efficient use of OC San’s treatment plant properties and enhance solids recovery. 

Signed Disclosure Letter: HERE