As the summer season steadily approaches, with temperatures predicted to be above average, the San Fernando Gardens will receive more energy-efficient cool roofs to protect residents in the Pacoima housing development from the high heat.
The federal funding, totaling $850,000, was secured by Congresswoman Luz Rivas for the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles (HACLA), which manages the low-income apartment complex that’s home to approximately 1,500 people. The cool roofs will reflect sunlight and absorb less heat than traditional roofs, reducing the need for residents to use air conditioning and thereby decreasing energy usage.
Rivas was joined by LA City Councilmember Monica Rodriguez and Lourdes Castro Ramirez, president and CEO of HACLA, on Thursday, May 28, at the San Fernando Gardens Community Center for the presentation of the ceremonial check.
Ramirez said that over the course of 30 years, funding for public housing has steadily declined. Just this year, HACLA received just 86% of what is needed for it to operate and maintain its communities.
“We know that climate change is here and our summers are getting hotter,” Ramirez said. “Many families, especially seniors, parents with young children and individuals living with disabilities, face the highest risk when extreme heat strikes. Reliable cooling, improved ventilation and resilient infrastructure – they’re not luxuries anymore. They are essential to the health, safety, and quality of life for our residents.”
She added that investments like this “will provide real, immediate benefits for residents and strengthen the long-term future of this affordable housing community.”
Nora Rosete, secretary for the San Fernando Gardens Resident Advisory Council, said, “This program not only represents a great investment in our homes, but a real commitment [into] the health and well-being of our families here in the San Fernando Gardens. … This program is going to reduce the heat in our apartments.”
This isn’t the first round of federal funding to be used to combat extreme heat in the San Fernando Gardens. Last July, then Congressman Tony Cárdenas presented more than $3.5 million for cool roofs and energy-efficient air conditioners.
The housing complex was built in 1955, but did not come with any amenities to help residents combat the intense heat over the last few years. It hasn’t helped that Pacoima is one of the hottest areas of LA County – one of the reasons being the urban heat island effect, where roads and buildings absorb heat, which leads to higher air and surface temperatures.
Rivas remarked how many senior citizens, including her own mother, are hesitant to turn on the air conditioning because they’re worried about their energy bill, even as the extreme heat waves have gotten worse over the years.
“These are some of the deadliest consequences of climate change,” Rivas said. “More people die from heat waves than [from] other natural disasters, especially here in California.
“If you don’t have air conditioning, it’s unbearable to sleep at night, and that impacts people’s health,” Rivas continued. “Even the hospitals in the area tell me that their emergency rooms are full during those heat waves because people [suffered] a stroke or have other health issues because they can’t sleep because of the heat.”
AccuWeather, a forecasting company, is predicting a hot summer over most of the contiguous United States, with the worst of the heat concentrating in the western half, including California, Nevada, Wyoming and Oregon.
They are also predicting that the number of days where the temperature exceeds 90 degrees will be higher than last year. In Burbank, there were 49 days with at least 90-degree heat in 2025. This year, it’s predicted that the minimum will be 56 days.
But with the recent investments, the hope is that the quality of life for many of these residents will continue to improve even as the heat rises.
“All the investments that we’re making today are going to pay dividends for our kids and for the health and safety of our families here in Pacoima, but it will [also] reverberate throughout the San Fernando Valley,” Rodriguez said.