In the heart of San Ysidro, there’s a new haven for residents vulnerable to the changing climate.
It’s called La Semilla Community Resiliency Center, a multiuse community center built on what was once a 7,000-square-foot vacant lot on Park Avenue near Hall Avenue. Officials celebrated its opening Thursday with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Residents can cool down during heat waves, charge their devices during power outages and gather during other climate hazards.
Lisa Cuestas, CEO of Casa Familiar, the environmental justice nonprofit that built the center, said it’s also a place for residents to be trained for emergency services in their neighborhood.
“This hub is absolutely an education space on how to react and how to respond and how to get ready for disasters and emergencies.”
That includes extreme weather events, such as the “super” El Niño forecasters project will intensify this winter. On Sept. 23, the center is expected to host a community workshop to help prepare the public for the potential weather event.
“Our climate is changing,” Mayor Todd Gloria said at the ceremony. “We see it all around us, and this is one of the ways we’re trying to address it.”
La Semilla was built using mass timber, large wood panels that can store carbon and have a lower carbon footprint than steel and cement, according to the Environmental and Energy Study Institute.
The site also has solar panels, an electric vehicle charging station, a garden and water cisterns, containers used to catch and store rainwater.
Bertha Ruiz is one of several San Ysidro residents who helped plan La Semilla. Casa Familiar is known for including residents of the communities it serves in their projects.
On Thursday, she helped cut the ribbon at the ceremony.
She has lived in San Ysidro for nearly 30 years.
In Spanish, she said she didn’t know how badly polluted San Ysidro was. She only knew her family had respiratory problems.
San Ysidro has historically faced significant air pollution challenges due to its proximity to freeways and the U.S.-Mexico Port of Entry, where about 100,000 vehicles cross daily. According to the Federal Bureau of Transportation Statistics, the border crossing at San Ysidro handled about 15 million cars entering the U.S. in 2024, more than all other ports of entry shared with Mexico.
The San Diego neighborhood is also burdened with air pollution from the binational, sewage-laden Tijuana River. Hydrogen sulfide levels have repeatedly exceeded state standards, according to data from an air monitor in San Ysidro.
La Semilla is bringing nature and more mobility options to her neighborhood, Ruiz said.
The project was funded in large part with an $8.5 million grant from the California Strategic Growth Council, Cuestas said.
