The County of Ventura and CEC will lead the project’s outreach and engagement activities at sites across the 805 region as defined by this project, including Ventura, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo counties. County of Ventura and CEC will coordinate outreach with the lead applicant and the project’s other subrecipients to achieve the following goals:
- Engage MFH and offsite site hosts to support EV charging project implementation, increase EV adoption, and EV charger use among the MFH residents served by the project.
- Increase EV adoption among MFH residents by sharing information about available EV models, relevant incentives, and free EVs purchase guidance services.
- Increase EV charging use among MFH residents by sharing information about the benefits of accessible EV charging and relevant consumer information about charging stations installed through the project.
CEC and County of Ventura will use the following outreach and engagement strategies will be used to achieve these goals:
Expanded Language Access: CEC and County of Ventura will deliver all outreach activities and deliverables intended for MFH residents will be delivered in Spanish and English to support increased language access and equity goals for the project. CEC’s subrecipient, Rooted Language Services LLC, will provide translation services for the project. County of Ventura will partner with the Mixteco Indigena Community Organizing Project (MICOP) to expand language access for MFH residents that speak Mixteco as their primary or only language. MICOP will deliver Mixteco language access services, including interpretation during educational webinars that include Mixtec audiences. Audio translation is critical for reaching MFH residents who are part of the 805 region’s population of more than 45,000 indigenous migrants, many of whom only speak Mixteco, an oral language. MICOP’s Language Access services will improve EV and charging station information accessibility to Mixtec-speaking individuals living at MFH properties served by REACH 2.0.
Bilingual Outreach & Education Materials: CEC will lead the design and printing of up to five bilingual outreach and education materials that promote EV charging, EV adoption, and project surveys with their subrecipient Pharos Creative LLC. CEC will distribute outreach materials to MFH properties via USPS ground mail parcels. CEC and County of Ventura will provide guidance and support to MFH property managers so they can install and disseminate outreach and education materials to residents at their properties. Deliverables will include, but not limited to flyers, brochures, door hangers, signage, posters, and webpages. All materials will be delivered in Spanish and English and will include information about relevant tenant rights resources.
EV Showcases/Muestra de Carro Eléctrico: County of Ventura and CEC will organize and deliver up to three small scale EV showcases each (six total for the project). The EV showcases will display between one to five vehicles. Showcases will be located at sites where EV charging projects are completed or at existing community events or destinations within ¼ mile of MFH properties served by the E-CAR 805 project. EV showcases will be delivered after new EV charging stations are operational at sites served by the project to promote EV adoption among tenants that have new access charging at their multifamily properties.
EV Signage and Information Displays: CEC and County of Ventura will engage property owners and their managers to install signage and information displays near charging stations and/or in common-use areas (e.g., lobbies, lounges, swimming pools, laundry facilities, on-site dog parks, etc.) so residents can get relevant information about EV charging, available EVs models, and EV incentives. The EV signage and information displays will allow MFH residents to easily access bilingual information about EV charging stations, available EVs models, relevant incentives, and EV purchase guidance services. Signage and information displays will also be used to promote project surveys The displays will be unstaffed, but residents will be encouraged to interact with the display and access information through QR code links. CEC and County of Ventura will incorporate secure, all-weather aluminum designs for outdoor signage and information displays to secure materials and protect them from the elements. CEC will mail parcels to the appropriate point of contact at MFH properties when the permitting process is completed for their EV charging projects. CEC and County of Ventura will work closely with property managers to restock materials during the project periods if the available budget allows.
Resident Group Engagement: CEC and County of Ventura will work with MFH property owners to identify and engage any existing organized groups of residents (e.g., Resident Advisory Councils) at MFH properties where EV charging projects are proposed and/or completed. When organized residents groups are identified, CEC and County of Ventura will work with the property manager to share education materials and to promote relevant events (e.g., webinars, EV showcases, etc.) with members of the residents groups. If the available budget allows, CEC and County of Ventura may deliver in-person presentations to the organized group(s) of residents at MFH properties served by the project.
EV Purchase Guidance Promotion: CEC and County of Ventura will work together to promote EVs Para Todos-EVs for Everyone (EVPT-EVFE), a free EV purchase guidance service available for low-to-moderate income households in Santa Cruz, San Benito, Monterey, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, and Ventura counties. EVPT-EVFE is administered by Ecology Action, a nonprofit organization based in Santa Cruz, and includes more than five funded partners across the six counties that are served by the program. CEC has been a funded EVPT-EVFE partner for more than two years and County of Ventura began delivering in-kind EV purchase guidance through EVPT-EVFE in December 2022. EVPT-EVFE purchase guidance services are delivered in Spanish and English to support language access. EVPT-EVFE purchase guidance services are funded through at least August 2026 with separate grant awards from Electrify America and the U.S. Department of Energy, so REACH 2.0 funds will only be used to promote EVPT-EVFE purchase guidance services at properties served by the project.
EV Education Webinars: CEC and County of Ventura will deliver three EV education webinars. CEC will deliver a bilingual EV education webinar in Spanish and English to MFH residents and property owners served by the project. County of Ventura will deliver up to two trilingual EV education webinars in Spanish, English, and Mixteco. The webinars will cover topics including but not limited to EV charging, available EVs, relevant incentives, and free EV purchase guidance services. CEC will work with their subrecipient, Rooted Language Services LLC, to deliver translation and interpretation for their EV education webinars. County of Ventura’s subrecipient MICOP will deliver interpretation during educational webinars. Interpretation services will be delivered via Zoom's interpretation feature, which enables participants to access live interpretation on separate audio channels. Each of the separate audio channels can be recorded and made available with the full Zoom webinar recordings. CEC and County of Ventura may not record webinars or may keep webinar recordings private in order to protect the confidentiality of participants. Webinars will provide information about relevant resources on tenant rights.
MFH Resident Pre- and Post-Project Surveys: County of Ventura will design a bilingual pre- and post-project survey to evaluate how increased access to EV charging at or near MFH properties influences residents’ EV preferences and adoption rates. The County of Ventura may also use the surveys to assess the surveyed residents’ awareness of relevant tenant rights before and after the project. CEC and County of Ventura will collaborate to distribute the pre- and post-project surveys to MFH residents and to promote participation with property owners, managers, and organized resident groups. County of Ventura will review survey responses and use the results to assess how increased access to EV charging at or near MFH properties influences EV preferences and adoption rates among residents.