Ten community projects in Long Beach will receive millions in funding through the $1.7 trillion federal omnibus spending bill approved by Congress this week.

Rep. Alan Lowenthal announced that he secured nearly $17.3 million in funding for projects for his district, including over $12.9 million for Long Beach.

“I came to Congress with the overriding goal of listening to my constituents and helping them improve their lives,” Lowenthal, who is retiring this year, said in a statement. “These projects, prompted and proposed by my communities and constituents, will do just that.”

Over half the funds are going toward improving Long Beach’s Anaheim corridor from Termino Avenue to the Anaheim Street Bridge, which is regarded as one of the most dangerous for pedestrians. This year four people—two on foot and two cyclists—have been killed within that 3-mile stretch.

The $7 million project is meant to improve safety with upgrades to traffic signals with protected turns, create pedestrian refuge medians and add turn restrictions to “collision hot spots,” according to the announcement.

Community Medical Wellness Centers, USA, also on the Anaheim corridor in Cambodia Town, will receive $2 million to expand behavior health and substance use disorder services through increased staffing, Lowenthal announced. The funds also will help the facility provide transportation to increase access as well as purchase furniture, computers and software.

Other Long Beach projects receiving funding include:

• $980,000 for Arts and Services for Disabled, Inc. for renovations of its adult day programming facility;
• $750,000 for the expansion of Long Beach Learning Hubs, which administers free internet hotspots and computing devices as well as technical support. The city program also offers virtual digital literacy courses and includes four learning hubs for Long Beach Unified School District students to access online learning and after-school programming.
• $750,000 for Habitat for Humanity of Greater Los Angeles for the construction of 20 affordable homes in Long Beach’s Washington neighborhood for families making 80% or below of the area median income.
• $575,000 for TCC Family Health for new medical, clinical and dental equipment and furnishings, and furniture for offices, lobbies and meeting spaces.
• $500,000 for APLA Health & Wellness-Long Beach Health Center to expand services the LGBTQ+ community with medical, dental and behavioral health care as well as sexual health services such as STD screening and treatment, HIV testing, PrEP and PEP.
• $250,000 for Long Beach Day Nursery for increased childcare education staffing.
• $56,950 for Cambodia Town, Inc. to provide weekly free online Khmer classes.
• $50,000 for the Books & Buckets program that provides youth outreach, education and violence prevention in the Washington neighborhood.

Lowenthal also secured funding for road improvements in the city of Avalon on Catalina Island, the Ben Em Dang Co Ta Foundation in Garden Grove, a mental health facility in Orange County through the BPSOS Center for Community Advancement, Cypress College and the Orange County Asian and Pacific Islander Community Alliance.

Community projects from across the district were submitted to Lowenthal’s office by community organizations and local governments. The requests were selected through a competitive application and vetting process, according to the announcement.

After representing California in the House of Representatives for the last decade, Lowenthal, 81, earlier this year announced he would not seek reelection. Prior to his stint in Congress, Lowenthal served as a state assemblyman from 1998 to 2004 and a state senator from 2004 to 2012.

“It has been my honor during my tenure in Congress to fight for our district to ensure that we get the federal funding we need to improve the lives of local families, advance infrastructure needs, create jobs, and support the economy,” Lowenthal said.