Map illustrates some of the locations of the Summer Meal Program
Summer Meals
The San Bernardino Department of Public Health is nearing its kick-off of the regional Summer Meals Program. The program seeks to serve children of disadvantaged communities that lack food security. Summer Meals provides a lunch to children who would otherwise go without during summer breaks at school. This program seeks partners in the form of cities and counties for sites and marketing. They will present to the Board of Directors in May. For more information on the summer meals, call 211 or text 'FOOD' to 877-877. In Spanish, text 'COMIDA.' You can also go to the USDA Food and Nutrition site at
fns.usda.gov for maps and contact information for programs nearby.
Regional Greenhouse Gas Reduction Plan
In April, SBCOG will issue an Request for Proposal (RFP) seeking proposals for the update of SBCOG's Regional Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Reduction Plan to meet the state's emission reduction requirement of 40% below 1990 levels by 2030. SBCOG will be utilizing a grant awarded by the California Energy Commission (CEC) for $250,635 to complete the GHG Reduction Plan update.
Comprehensive Pedestrian Sidewalk Connectivity Plan
SBCOG has been awarded a $600,000 grant for the completion of a Comprehensive Sidewalk Study of the region. The database tool will assist regional and local agencies in active transportation planning, decision-making and construction of priority sidewalk project. The main goal of the plan is to reduce current duplicate efforts by multiple staff and both the regional and city level in implementing systematic sidewalk projects.
Healthy Communities Partnership
In 2015, SBCOG and Western Riverside Council of Governments (WRCOG) Board of Directors met to discuss how to collaborate regionally on the topic of healthy communities. Riverside County led the effort in developing a "Healthy Development Checklist" through the Riverside County Public Health Department, while San Bernardino County led the effort in developing a "Healthy Communities Strategic Plan" through the San Bernardino County Public Health Department. Staff from WRCOG, SBCOG, Riverside University Health Systems (Department of Public Health), San Bernardino County Department of Public Health will present and highlight the joint bi-county effort at the May Board of Directors Meeting.
Public Health Speaker Series
SBCOG is partnering with WRCOG and Partners for Better Health to bring a series of discussions related to health policy. Riverside and San Bernardino will host breakfast conversations every other month beginning in August with the goal of creating the space for meaningful discussion centered on bi-county health policy for policy makers.
Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America (NACA)
The Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America is a non-profit, community advocacy and homeownership organization. NACA's goal is to build strong, healthy neighborhoods in urban and rural areas nationwide through affordable homeownership. NACA has worked with thousands of working people by counseling them and effectively enabling those with poor credit to purchase a home or modify a predatory loan with far better terms than those provided even in the prime market. NACA is seeking partners and will be presenting to the City Manager's Technical Advisory Committee in June. For more information, visit naca.com.
Grant Services Update
At the April Board of Director's meeting, the contract extension with Blais and Associates (Grant Writing Service Providers) was approved for an additional year at a 3% increase. Over the last 24 months of their contract:
SBCOG/SBCTA have received over $2.3 Million in grant funds
SBCOG has yielded a 20:1 return on investment
10 of the 15 submitted grant applications were partnerships with multiple agencies
4 (plus one pending) grant applications were sponsored by SBCOG, allowing several agencies and private entities to partner at no grant-writing cost to the agency.
3 county-wide workshops have been conducted for the benefit of the member agencies
