How we prepare and adapt matters!
The Southwest Santa Rosa Holistic, Equitable, Actionable, Transformative (HEAT) Action Plan will identify extreme heat gaps and priorities for the City and County to address and help Southwest Santa Rosa residents protect themselves from extreme heat by fostering local awareness.
The HEAT Action Plan will engage the communities most impacted by extreme heat in Southwest Santa Rosa to identify shared priorities and uplift community knowledge. The plan fosters collaboration between community-based organizations, residents, and the public sector in planning for resilience to climate hazards.
At the end of a multi-year engagement process, the resulting HEAT Action Plan will identify gaps in extreme heat knowledge and infrastructure, propose policy and infrastructural recommendations, and increase local access to extreme heat information and resources.
Santa Rosa-based Latino Service Providers and Bay Area-focused Greenbelt Alliance launched the community engagement process to develop the Plan in July 2025 with support from the Governor’s Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation.
To create a community-driven Plan that reflects local priorities, we will:
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Increase local knowledge of extreme heat risk and impacts through workshops, community outreach, and resource sharing
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Ensure that all community members, especially those who have been historically excluded from civic processes, have the opportunity to fully participate in engagement events. We will compensate community members for their time and expertise, and make services, such as childcare and translation available
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Develop and advocate for adaptation strategies and infrastructural investments that meet community needs
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Collaborate and build strong partnerships between local government agencies, the county, community-based organizations, and residents
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Create educational and professional pipelines for Southwest Santa Rosa youth to explore careers in climate resilience, sustainability, and planning
About
Southwest Santa Rosa is facing growing risks of wildfires and extreme heat. As climate change worsens, communities will be exposed to more hot days and warm nights over the next decades. The size and severity of wildfires have increased across Sonoma County in recent years. Wildfire smoke, accompanied by an increase in extreme heat days, have negatively impacted the health and well-being of residents — particularly those who work outside.
Vulnerability to extreme heat and wildfire impacts makes Southwest Santa Rosa a critical Resilience Hotspot. The prevalence of housing insecurity in this community—largely made up of renters— means that temporary strategies like home hardening and air conditioning are not readily available, making collective action a critical component of building a more resilient neighborhood.
The region is home to innovative organizers and powerful social movements who address underlying inequalities for predominantly Latino homeowners and farmworkers, who face the brunt of these rising climate impacts.
