AmericaSpeaks TheVoiceOfJoyce California has started building Resilience Centers, functional buildings for year long activities for families , in poor neighborhoods , to survive climate heat and extremes. The BHAC model, combines fun with career training and critical thinking games. Kids get food and can be housed for 3 days during intense weather extremes. Their model is being duplicated in many areas of California. A center that provides, food pantries, entertainment and medical assistance. A trusted adjunct to everyone’s community. These facilities are not just gyms with chairs, they’re functional building designed to be integrated with the Community year round and serve as a shelter under extreme heat or cold! Baltimore is trying this model. NYC needs this type of community model, instead of untrusted emergency services. California is indeed setting the pace for change as they grapple with orange polluted skies from forest fires. The pollution, which affects all areas of the State and beyond is toxic. The smoke leaden with pollutants can be felt in NYC. realizing people are being displaced by the fires, California is also making insurers pay up and keep those who’ve lost their homes. The state is being proactive in trying times. The costs to adjust to Climate crises, brought on by Carbon Emissions , whether from Fossil Fuels or agriculture, are destroying our lives and resources. These new centers, built by BHAC contain solar storage power and updated filtered HVAC. That’s new jobs for new industries. # Human Centered

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/sep/23/california-extreme-heat-resilience-centers

BHAC is a career training center that has been preparing young people for jobs in media arts for 11 years. But recently, BHAC has been taking on a new role in its community – shielding some of east Los Angeles’s most vulnerable residents from extreme weather.

The conservatory is an example of what is known in California and beyond as a “resilience center” – a community space built to withstand climate disruptions like storms and power outages, but that also builds long-term preparedness by offering programs that improve people’s social, physical and economic health so they can withstand crises. Community members have found that temporary, reactive disaster responses like emergency shelters don’t adequately protect residents, and that, especially in disadvantaged communities, climate resilience must also address pre-existing inequities.

As hazards like wildfire smoke, extreme heat and power outages last longer and happen more often, more communities across California are turning to these centers for support, and the state has committed nearly $200m in funding to developing more.


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