Greening Pacoima: Community-Led Climate Resilience

Green space, park access, and trees

San Fernando Valley

Expand existing project, program, or initiative (expanding and continuing ongoing, successful work)

The NESFV has long suffered from environmental injustice and disinvestment. Decades of discriminatory planning have left its predominantly Latino and low-income communities overexposed to pollution and industrial hazards. Pacoima ranks in the 82nd percentile statewide for pollution burden, with residents exposed to diesel exhaust, hazardous waste, and emissions from nearby industrial sites and transportation corridors. The community faces high rates of asthma, cardiovascular disease, and youth obesity, driven in part by limited access to parks, green space, and walkable infrastructure. A landscape of concrete, minimal tree canopy, and trapped heat creates dangerous conditions, with summer temperatures often exceeding 100 degrees.
As the only environmental justice organization rooted in this region, Pacoima Beautiful empowers residents to reclaim and transform neglected urban spaces into vibrant green infrastructure that reflects the culture, needs, and resilience of the community.

Pacoima Beautiful is advancing a vision of environmental equity in the NESFV by transforming long-neglected spaces into vibrant, community-rooted green infrastructure. Projects include Bradley Plaza and Green Alley, a once-blighted corridor reimagined with native landscaping, stormwater capture, and public art that promotes play, wellness, and a vibrant sense of place for local families and youth; Jardín Pacoima, a sidewalk garden that brings greenery and gathering space to an underserved commercial corridor; and the restoration of the Pacoima Wash Greenway, the transformation of a historically neglected flood channel in NESFV into a vibrant, accessible green corridor that supports environmental justice, community health, and climate resilience.
To activate and sustain these spaces, Pacoima Beautiful is launching a monthly community stewardship and education series featuring environmental workshops, trash cleanup, native plant care, and storytelling rooted in local history. Youth in our leadership programs will co-design and lead events, gaining hands-on experience in advocacy, land care, and climate action.
Through these efforts, we aim to expand shade equity, cool urban heat zones, and improve access to safe, restorative green spaces. This grant will help us restore the urban landscape, foster intergenerational pride, and build lasting access to nature in one of LA’s most environmentally burdened communities.

Pacoima Beautiful envisions a Los Angeles where every child, regardless of zip code, can walk under shaded streets, play in safe parks, and grow up connected to nature and empowered to shape their surroundings. Through community leadership and resilience, we are transforming the NESFV from one of LA’s most environmentally burdened and park-poor regions into a model of environmental justice and community-led public space activation.
Access to nature is essential. Green space supports physical and mental health, fosters belonging, and promotes healing. That’s why we focus on revitalizing neglected areas through native landscaping and sustainable infrastructure. These efforts not only improve Pacoima, but contribute to regional ecological resilience, given the NESFV’s permeable soils and proximity to the Angeles National Forest. In a community impacted by pollution and climate change, restoring land offers a response to climate grief and a path forward through connection and action.