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San Diego leaders announce $20 million EPA Community Change Grant for central historic Barrios
Summary
County Supervisor Nora Vargas and Mayor Todd Gloria announced a $20,000,000 EPA Community Change Grant targeting San Diego's central historic Barrios (Barrio Logan and Logan Heights) for projects including green infrastructure, an EV micro-transit pilot (La Via Verde), workforce training and home remediation; partners include the San Diego Foundation and the Environmental Health Coalition.
San Diego city and county leaders announced that a coalition of local organizations has secured a $20,000,000 U.S. EPA Community Change Grant to fund neighborhood-scale projects in the central historic Barrios, including Barrio Logan and Logan Heights.
"I'm pleased to be here with this group of incredible San Diegans ... to announce the receipt of $20,000,000 in federal funding to come into this community," Mayor Todd Gloria said at the event. He said the award builds on a prior $22.5 million Transformative Climate Communities grant and that the city worked with a coalition of 11 partner organizations to win the funding.
Nora Vargas, chair of the San Diego County Board of Supervisors, stressed the role of grassroots organizations and named the San Diego Foundation and the Environmental Health Coalition as lead partners. Vargas said the grant will support projects to reduce pollution and create local jobs, and highlighted funding for the Chicano Park Museum & Cultural Center and an EV micro-transit program called La Via Verde.
"This grand opportunity that we're securing for Barrio Logan and Lowell Heights community is extremely, extremely important," Vargas said, describing the award as the result of community organizing and partnership.
Mark Stewart, CEO of the San Diego Foundation, said his organization served as the lead applicant and helped convene partners to submit a community-driven proposal. Dominique Navarro of the Environmental Health Coalition described years of local engagement and said residents prioritized investments that remain in their neighborhoods. Navarro said the plan includes green infrastructure, transportation projects to reduce air pollution, a workforce training center tied to green careers and home remediation work for low-income families and seniors.
An EPA representative, Laura Ebert, framed the grant as part of a broader federal effort: she said the Inflation Reduction Act enabled the Environmental and Climate Justice Grant Program and that roughly $2.8 billion is being awarded nationally through programs like these. Ebert described the Community Change Grants as place-based investments intended to address legacy pollution and expand community-led solutions.
The announcement included implementation commitments from partners but did not provide a project-by-project procurement schedule or detailed budget allocations for each component. Officials said the grant will be used alongside city resources and prior awards to fund tree planting, transit options, workforce programs and home remediation; specific spending timelines and contracting details were not specified at the ceremony.
Next procedural step: partners said they will move into implementation with community accountability processes and periodic reporting; no formal legislative vote was recorded during the announcement.
