Beautification efforts, a local veterans memorial, clothing for low-income and homeless students, food pantries, academic support and Little League field renovations are among the 46 projects in the Harbor Area and Watts that have won significant grant funding after coming out on top during a community-wide online election.
In all, nonprofits throughout the area proposed 164 projects that were put up for a community vote.
The funding comes from $88 million the Los Angeles City Council redirected from the LAPD for community grants in the wake of nationwide protests over George Floyd’s killing in Minneapolis in May 2020. The grants were meant for projects in disadvantaged neighborhoods and communities of color.
Council District 15, which runs from Watts-to-San Pedro, received $12 million.
Most of that money will go into a CD15 Reimagining Public Safety Fund that will pay for community intervention workers, youth programs — including Summer Night Lights in Watts — additional street lighting in Watts and funding for the Wilmington Town Square.
But a little more than $3 million was set aside for community nonprofit projects. Los Angeles Councilman Joe Buscaino, who represents the 15th District, set up an online vote from May 10 to 31, to help determine the most popular proposals. Buscaino’s office announced the recipients this week.
The individual grants the 46 nonprofits received for their projects ranged from $24,000 to $100,000.
Watts projects received the most money, totaling $1.1 million. San Pedro projects received $999,700, Wilmington projects received $550,000, Harbor City projects received $307,000 and Harbor Gateway received $100,000.
The grant recipients and their projects include:
- Pedro Pet Pals: $100,000 to create a new low-cost veterinary clinic in downtown San Pedro, in collaboration with Spay Neuter Project of Los Angeles and serving families throughout the Harbor Area;
- Bridge Cities Alliance: $100,000 for San Pedro beautification projects to create “a clean, new aesthetic look” for entrances to San Pedro’s main business corridors, including Pacific Avenue and Gaffey Street, with power washed sidewalks, clean gutters, maintained street wells, weed- and trash-free sidewalks, and freshly painted perimeter walls;
- Assistance League of San Pedro-South Bay and Operation School Bell: $100,000 for a school clothing program that provides new school-appropriate clothing for low-income and homeless children in San Pedro, Harbor City and Wilmington;
- Pacific Battleship Center for the San Pedro Fallen Veterans Memorial: $92,700 for this project, which will be located adjacent to the Battleship USS Iowa on the Los Angeles Waterfront in San Pedro. The three-slab granite monument will include the names of all San Pedrans who died in World War I, World War II, and the Korean and Vietnam wars;
- Eastview Little League: $90,000 for restroom and field renovations for the league’s fields, on Knoll Hill overlooking the Vincent Thomas Bridge and harbor in San Pedro;
- Five Pillars of Success Program: $100,000 to provide after-school academic support to Watts students, with mentorship by LAPD officers and professional civilians; and
- East Side Riders Bike Club: $100,000 for “Beast Watts” to feed the hungry, carry out community service days and operate a community youth employment program.
Information about the other grant recipients and their projects: la15th.com/buscainogrants.