Update
San Joaquin Valley Collaborative on Extreme Heat Launches Resilience Hub Learning Community
The initiative will bring organizations together to share ideas, successes and challenges related to planning, implementing and operating resilience hubs and cooling centers.
-
Focus Areas
Capacity Building & Leadership, Environmental Health -
Issues
Climate Change -
Expertise
Coalition & Network Building -
Programs
Roots of Change, Tracking California
The San Joaquin Valley Collaborative to Protect Vulnerable Workers and Families from Extreme Heat Events (SJV Heat) Initiative aims to protect vulnerable communities in Kings, Fresno, Tulare and Madera counties from the growing threat of extreme heat. The project is led by PHI’s Tracking California and Roots of Change programs, the Central California Environmental Justice Network, Terra Bella Union Elementary School District and UC Berkeley’s School of Public Health.
Beginning in June 2026, the SJV Heat initiative will launch a five-session learning community for organizations, local agencies and individuals involved in planning, implementing or operating resilience hubs and cooling centers. The community will create space for real-time problem solving, peer feedback and shared learning from organizations at different stages of hub development.
Session Topics and Dates
The learning community sessions will be hosted quarterly on Wednesdays from June 2026–March 2027 from 12:00–2:00PM PT. Session focuses may evolve based on participant feedback and needs.
Session 1: Hubs in Action: What Are People Building?
June 3, 2026—Registration Closes May 27
This session will provide space for peer learning across planning, implementation and operational resilience hubs by sharing examples of hub models, retrofitted spaces and innovative approaches, while grounding discussions in local context and infrastructure realities such as cooling and power resilience.
June 3, 2026—Registration Closes May 27
This session will provide space for peer learning across planning, implementation and operational resilience hubs by sharing examples of hub models, retrofitted spaces and innovative approaches, while grounding discussions in local context and infrastructure realities such as cooling and power resilience.
Session 2: Programming That Lasts
September 2, 2026
This session will explore sustainable programming strategies for resilience hubs by examining what works, what has been challenging and how community priorities shape programming. Participants will learn from peers about successful programs, funding approaches and strategies for ongoing engagement.
Session 3: Fundraising & Sustainability
December 2, 2026
This session will focus on sharing strategies for financing resilience hubs, including diverse revenue streams and partnerships, to support both programming and operations. Participants will gain insight into funding models and approaches that support long-term sustainability.
Session 4: Operations, Partnerships & Power
March 3, 2027
This session will examine governance, staffing and partnership models that support effective and equitable resilience hubs. Participants will explore how leadership structures, decision-making processes and collaborations impact hub operations and community accountability.
Session 5: Site Visit at Terra Bella Resilience Hub
Date TBD
This session will provide participants with a hands-on opportunity to observe a functioning resilience hub in Terra Bella, engage with hub leaders and discuss lessons learned and challenges in real time.
Who Should Attend
Organizations in the planning or implementation phase of building a resilience hub or cooling center, as well as groups already operating a functioning hub. Participants may already have funding or be actively seeking funding for planning, retrofitting, implementation or operations. Participants already have a foundation or working knowledge of what resilience hubs are, how they function during different periods of operation and are on their way or have completed development of a hub.
About the SJV Heat
The SJV Heat initiative aims to reduce extreme heat impacts for vulnerable workers and families in the San Joaquin Valley by implementing heat protections systems and strategies, including creation of a model school-based cooling center and resilience hub. Learn more.
Originally published by Tracking California
More Updates
Work With Us
You change the world. We do the rest. Explore fiscal sponsorship at PHI.
Support Us
Together, we can accelerate our response to public health’s most critical issues.
Find Employment
Begin your career at the Public Health Institute.