Lake County Resilience Hub partners map sites and win NIH funding for pilot to build rural heat resilience

County resilience staff and community partners briefed the Board of Supervisors on Feb. 24 about the Lake County Resilience Hub — a network of community sites coordinating to support residents during extreme heat, power outages and other hazards. Terry Logsom (county) and Pastor Shannon Kimballoff (Red Cross) walked the board through a draft map of participating centers, site‑by‑site readiness measures and pet policies.

Tracking California (Public Health Institute) described training milestones, resilient power measures (solar, generator, battery) and a battery unit that can charge cell phones and durable medical equipment. Susan Poliukonis said the project is moving to a pilot phase: Tracking California received a high‑profile NIH award, providing $1.4 million per year for a four‑year intervention trial to evaluate community‑based approaches and develop a national model for rural heat resilience.

Presenters emphasized that sites vary in readiness and function — some are warming centers, some are community resilience centers with pet policies and staffing plans — and that the next steps include additional map layers (resource partners, power capacity) and community engagement. Presenters said several sites already have CPR/AED capacity and that the project will train additional local instructors.

Supervisors and community members discussed missing geographic coverage (Lower Lake, Spring Valley) and asked staff to bring the mapping and presentations to local town halls. Partners noted operational costs for sheltering and urged sustained county support for volunteers and supplies.