Community Resilience Centers Round 2 IMPLEMENTATION Grant (FY 26-27)

The Community Resilience Centers Program is administered by the California Strategic Growth Council, a cabinet level entity within the Governors Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation. The program was established to address increasing climate related risks such as extreme heat, wildfires, power outages, and other public health emergencies affecting communities across California. Funded through the Safe Drinking Water, Wildfire Prevention, Drought Preparedness, and Clean Air Bond Act of 2024, the program provides competitive grants to support the development of community resilience centers that serve as both emergency response hubs and year round community assets. Implementation Grants under this program are designed to fund the construction, retrofit, and activation of physical facilities that function as Community Resilience Centers. These centers must provide essential services during emergencies such as cooling, shelter, food distribution, and communications, while also offering ongoing programming that strengthens community resilience, social cohesion, and economic opportunity. The program emphasizes a dual investment approach in both physical infrastructure such as buildings, energy systems, and water systems, and social infrastructure such as workforce training, public health services, and community engagement activities. Eligible activities for Implementation Grants include capital improvements such as construction, building rehabilitation, installation of energy systems, water infrastructure upgrades, and accessibility enhancements. Additional allowable uses include development and delivery of programs and services that support resilience, including emergency preparedness training, workforce development, public health services, and community engagement initiatives. Projects must incorporate at least four program strategies, which may include energy resilience, water resilience, air quality improvements, food security, emergency communications, mobility access, or workforce development. Applicants must be eligible California based entities such as public agencies, nonprofit organizations, tribes, utilities, or special districts. Implementation Grant applications require a Lead Applicant and at least two Partners, including at least one community based organization, and must demonstrate a collaborative governance structure that includes community residents. Projects must be located within a defined project area and prioritize underserved, rural, tribal, or disadvantaged communities. The application process requires submission through the Submittable platform during the designated application window. Applicants must provide detailed project plans, including a Collaborative Governance Agreement, draft emergency and community resilience plans, budget, and documentation of partnerships. Applications are evaluated through a multi stage process including eligibility screening, scoring, and interviews for top applicants. Final awards are approved by the Strategic Growth Council. The application period for Implementation Grants opens on July 2, 2026 and closes on September 25, 2026. Following submission, applications undergo review in late 2026, with interviews for finalists and award announcements expected in spring 2027. The grant term spans approximately six years and includes a pre development phase, implementation phase, and evaluation phase. Projects must maintain operation as resilience centers for at least 15 years after completion. Funding amounts for Implementation Grants range from one million to ten million dollars, with approximately fifty million dollars allocated for this grant type in the current round. There is no stated matching requirement. Applicants may contact the program via the official email address for inquiries, and are encouraged to utilize technical assistance resources offered by the program to strengthen their applications.

Strong applications demonstrate community partnerships, readiness for construction, and alignment with resilience strategies