Hello Long Beach! Here are the news highlights of the week to kick off Monday, May 15, 2023.
City moves forward with plans to establish a Cambodian American Cultural Center
Last week the city council voted to adopt the proposed Cambodian American Cultural Center Vision and Feasibility Plan which will establish a cultural center to serve as a hub for Cambodian art, culture, and history. The Cambodian American Cultural Center (CACC) will be a non-profit organization and will identify committees and work groups that will spearhead the center’s development. These people will lead the programming, finance and fundraising, development, memberships and partnerships, and communications of the CACC. The upcoming steps will be to find a facility for the center, which would ideally be located in Cambodia Town but could also be outside or close to it depending on financial feasibility and development opportunities. A meeting will be held on June 8 from 5 to 6:30 p.m. at the United Cambodian Community to further discuss plans for the CACC. Learn more here.
Long Beach to Host Sunset Ceremony Commemorating Memorial Day
This Memorial Day (Sunday, May 28), the Office of Veterans Support will host a free community event called “Honoring Our Heroes – A Sunset Ceremony” at the Long Beach Navy Memorial in Shoreline Aquatic Park. The event will consist of music performed by the Navy Band Southwest Harborside Brass Quintet, flyovers with historical aircraft, an information & activities fair featuring the Historical Society of Long Beach, and much more. The event will also offer opportunities to learn more about the Navy Memorial site, which recognizes the 90-year history of the Navy in Long Beach. “Honoring Our Heros – A Sunset Ceremony” is a complement to Los Angeles Fleet Week, which celebrates the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard May 26-29 at the L.A. Waterfront at the Port of Los Angeles. The purpose of these events is to honor and celebrate the military service members who currently served or have served our country. Learn more here.
Long Beach Now Offering Evening Mental Health Therapy Programming to People Experiencing Homelessness
The City’s health department is now offering mental health therapy programming for unsheltered individuals and those staying in congregate or non-congregate shelters. These 45-minute phone therapy sessions will be available during the week from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. with licensed and associate mental health clinicians and can be scheduled online or through the Multi-Service Center. The city is also making outreach efforts to homeless individuals who do not have access to telephones so they may utilize the service. These free therapy sessions are part of the City’s efforts to expand mental health services to the unhoused population so that they may receive help for mental illness and substance abuse. The City is also looking into creating extended hours for these services and deploying a mobile therapy van with a mental health clinician and a substance use counselor to engage people at encampments. Learn more here.
SpaceX and Long Beach’s Vast Space to launch the world’s 1st commercial space station
Vast Space, a space research and technology company in Long Beach, has announced a new partnership with SpaceX to launch the world’s first commercial space station that will be known as “Haven-1”. This station is expected to launch in 2025 by a SpaceX rocket. Once the station is launched, SpaceX aircraft will fly out the first human flight to dock on the space station, where they’ll stay for up to a month while orbiting Earth. Vast is selling tickets for four seats on the inaugural mission to Haven-1 with their targeted customers being domestic and international space agencies or individuals involved in science and philanthropic projects. Vast Space recently relocated to Long Beach from El Segundo, and is looking to expand its team to around 700 employees, which is good news for Long Beach in the sense that it would be a large economic boost to the City’s aerospace industry and possibly provide job opportunities for those who have recently lost jobs at Virgin Orbit.
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