County Funding Approved to Help RAP Foundation Purchase New AC Units

PALM DESERT – The Riverside County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday voted to approve a request by Supervisor V. Manuel Perez to allocate $100,000 to the Regional Access Project Foundation to help the nonprofit organization replace seven air conditioner units at its building in Palm Desert.

The Regional Access Project Foundation (RAP Foundation) provides funding, oversight, technical assistance, and guidance to many nonprofit, community-based organizations that serve the communities of eastern Riverside County, from the Coachella Valley to the Blythe community, in the areas of health, mental health and juvenile intervention.

The RAP Foundation was seeking funding to replace the AC units, which have needed replacement.

“We all know how hot it gets back home. I don’t think anybody likes to work in 120 degree weather, whether inside or outside a building,” said Supervisor Perez. “These funds for the RAP Foundation will provide them the resources so that they can move forward and provide the technical assistance for our folks that are providing the services on the ground to improve the quality of life of our residents.”

The funding comes from Fourth District Unincorporated Communities Initiative funding, county funds that are used to assist with projects and needs of the unincorporated communities. Supervisor Perez noted at the meeting that the RAP Foundation provides technical assistance to nonprofits improving eastern Coachella Valley communities, and that a vast majority of the nonprofits that the RAP Foundation funds and houses in its Palm Desert building support residents in the eastern Coachella Valley.

“The RAP Foundation would like to express its gratitude for the Board of Supervisors’ approval of Supervisor Perez’s request for funding our air conditioning replacement needs,” said RAP Foundation CEO Leticia De Lara. “This funding is crucial for our ability to continue to provide office and meeting space for our nonprofits which serve our unincorporated communities.”

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Supervisor V. Manuel Perez represents the Fourth Supervisorial District on the Riverside County Board of Supervisors. The largest district in the county by geography, the 4th District covers eastern Riverside County, from Whitewater, stretching across the entire Coachella Valley south to the Salton Sea, up Highway 74 to Idyllwild and the mountain communities, and heading east of the Coachella Valley to Blythe and the Colorado River.

Supervisor Perez’s office hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.