LOS ANGELES (CNS) — The city of Los Angeles has received two $5 million grants to reduce litter and beautify neighborhoods in South Los Angeles.

The grants were awarded by Caltrans to the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles. They’ll go to the South Los Angeles Rising and Jordan Downs Beautification and Liter Abatement projects, which are part of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Clean California initiative, a $1.1 billion, multiyear clean-up effort led by Caltrans to remove trash, create jobs and engage communities to transform public spaces.

“Creating beautiful communities that we’re proud to call home is a collective effort,” HACLA President and CEO Doug Guthrie said Friday. “These community engagement projects and education programs won’t just beautify our neighborhoods; they will provide much-needed jobs in the very communities they seek to improve. This is an incredible investment in our most underserved urban communities and we’re proud to partner with Caltrans on this endeavor.”

South Los Angeles Rising is a two-year program to strengthen the trash collection infrastructure at large public housing sites in the Watts neighborhood and create a Green Ambassador Program. The program will organize local litter removal events coupled with public education campaigns on ways to keep the community clean.

The Jordan Downs Beautification and Litter Abatement project will make several improvements to the Jordan Downs Urban Village, which is being redeveloped to replace 700 outdated public housing units with more than 1,500 new units. The Clean California grant will help construct four public parks totaling 2.7 acres and install two murals and decorative fencing. Also, 52 “smart” trash cans that are solar powered and communicate real-time status updates to litter collection crews are being placed at the site.

“Keeping California clean and litter-free is a responsibility that we all share,” Caltrans Acting Director Steven Keck said. “Caltrans is proud to partner with the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles in our collective goal to help Californians build clean and green communities and keep them beautiful.”

More information can be found at CleanCA.com.