Port of Long Beach Awards $5 Million in Health Grants
The grants will fund 10 projects to improve cardiovascular and lung health of people living near the second-busiest U.S. port.
The Port of Long Beach announced April 18 its award of $5 million in grants to fund 10 projects that will improve the lung and heart health of people living closest to the port. The grants to local hospitals, clinics, and health organizations will educate families on asthma care, screen at-risk populations for respiratory illness, and build a cardiovascular disease diagnosis laboratory.
"These grants will go to health programs that directly help the people most affected by air pollution from the goods movement industry," said Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners President Nick Sramek. "We continue to work to reduce air pollution at the source, but these grants help us address the overall effects of the port's presence."
Grants will support mobile units to bring health outreach and screening programs directly to the communities nearest the port, as well as air filters for a children's hospital. These are the recipients:
- St. Mary Medical Center, $834,791
- The Children's Clinic, $825,727
- City of Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services, $798,622
- Long Beach Comprehensive Health Center, $661,318
- Asthma & Allergy Foundation of America - California Chapter & Mattel Children's Hospital UCLA Breathmobile, $580,000
- Long Beach Alliance for Children with Asthma, $489,200
- BREATHE California of Los Angeles County, $355,874
- Miller Children's Hospital Long Beach, $287,549
- Cambodian Association of America, $120,000
- Westside Neighborhood Clinic, $46,919
Last year, the Port Mitigation Grant Programs awarded $4.7 million to schools and related facilities, such as day care centers. Later this year, the port expects to take applications for its greenhouse gas reduction grant program.
The port handles more than $140 billion worth of cargo and supports more than 30,000 jobs.