East Bay Nabs Millions In Federal Grants

BERKELEY, CA – The East Bay will receive more than $45 million in federal funding for organizations and projects centering on education, affordable housing, the arts, scientific research, and public health initiatives, Rep. Lateefah Simon, who represents California's 12th district, announced Friday.

“Every day, I am focused on bringing resources back to CA-12 so that our communities can not only survive the now — but also thrive and innovate for the future,” said Simon. “Affordable housing, the arts, education, and health care are all direct targets of the Republicans’ indiscriminate, chainsaw cuts. Securing funding for ALL of these different initiatives is an act of resistance, and a way we keep our East Bay heart beating.”

Simon announced that federal grants will be distributed to the following organizations and programs:

• Health care initiatives across the district, including the telehealth resource program in Oakland, pharmacology and biochemistry health care research at the University of California, Berkeley, and Alameda Health System’s substance abuse medicine fellowship program will receive $3.2 million from the Department of Health and Human Services.
• Public health initiatives, educational opportunities and employment or paid work opportunities for low-income youth will receive $11 million in AmeriCorps funding.
• The East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation and the Unity Council, a member of the National NeighborWorks network, will receive $100,000 in funding “for revitalizing and sustaining safe neighborhoods and for projects that will help lower the cost of housing,” according to Simon.
• The Kala Art Institute, located in Berkeley, will receive $10,000 from the National Endowment for the Arts and Mid-America Arts Alliance.
• The University of California, Berkeley and the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute in Berkeley will receive over $22 million from the National Science Foundation “for scientific research and innovation across a number of disciplines and sectors,” Simon stated.
• UC Berkeley is also receiving $7.5 million from the Department of Defense, through their Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative, for research on high priority-technical disciplines.
• Bay Ship & Yacht Co., located in Alameda, is receiving nearly $390,000 from the Department of Transportation “for shipyard and maritime revitalization efforts and new technologies.”

"As federal funding for necessary programs continues to be clawed back or come under attack, I welcome these recent funding notices,” Simon said. “I will continue fighting to ensure that institutions and organizations in CA-12 receive the federal funds they deserve.”