In a festive ceremony, two Port of Long Beach grant-funded environmental projects had their grand openings yesterday, at the Century Villages of Cabrillo homeless rehabilitation complex in West Long Beach.
Century Villages at Cabrillo was awarded grants under the Port’s Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Grant Program. One $161,455 grant went toward a solar energy system that will provide 150,000 kilowatt-hours of clean electricity annually, and another $170,000 grant for a picturesque urban garden to beautify and also capture harmful emissions.
“The Port of Long Beach is proud to support Century Villages through green and sustainable projects that raise the quality of life for its residents as well as the greater Long Beach community,” said Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners President Doug Drummond. The other funding partners were Wells Fargo, NeighborWorks USA, and Southern California Edison.
The solar energy grant project involved installing a solar power system on the carport structures adjacent to the Casa de Cabrillo building. The project will help reduce greenhouse gases as well as bring long-term electrical cost savings.
The urban forest project included planting about 100 trees on the western perimeter of the housing campus, which will help to sequester carbon, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and improve air quality. The urban forest is located adjacent to and expands on the campus landscape barrier that was funded through a previous Port of Long Beach Community Mitigation Grant under the Schools and Related Sites Program.
Century Villages, formerly a Navy housing center, serves more than 1,000 individuals a day, including more than 400 children.
