What’s new: Aldi set to open at the Shops at Jurupa Valley

The bargain grocer Aldi is opening Thursday, June 20 at the Shops at Jurupa Valley.

Doors swing open at 8 a.m. for the store’s official grand opening at 8089 Mission Blvd. (Regular hours will be 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.)

If you’ve never been to an Aldi store, the grocery chain offers a small format store with mostly Aldi-branded items. While it does sell national brands, shoppers will find the Aldi “knockoff” right next to the familiar box of Cheerios, Oreo cookies or even Best of the West mayonnaise.

Aldi also vastly undercuts produce prices, selling berries, veggies and other mainstays for dollars under traditional prices offered by Ralphs, Vons or Albertsons.

The store saves money by stacking goods in their shipping boxes and offering many self-checkout stands versus employ-run cash registers.

Newcomers, don’t forget your quarter!

Aldi’s grocery carts are locked together at the storefront, and the only way to pry one loose is to insert a quarter into a slot mechanism on the right side of the shopping cart’s handle bar. To get the quarter back, shoppers must return the cart to the storefront where they can insert another cart’s key, pushing the quarter free. This process, which often has shoppers rolling their eyes, keeps Aldi staff from chasing down carts in the parking lot.

Affordable housing debuts in Temecula

Community HousingWorks on Tuesday, June 11 celebrated the opening of Las Haciendas Apartments, an affordable housing complex in Temecula.

Las Haciendas is CHW’s first community in Riverside County and its 49th overall.

The complex has 77 units in one-, two-, and three-bedroom floor plans — including one for an on-site property manager.

The community is fully leased, CHW said. Apartments are reserved for residents earning 30% to 60% of the area median income or less (which is roughly $28,000 to $56,000 annually for a family of four).

Built about a half-mile north of historic Old Town, Las Haciendas was developed as part of the Uptown Temecula Specific Plan.

Senior affordable complex breaks ground in Riverside

Another new affordable housing complex broke ground June 10 in Riverside, this time the Mulberry Gardens Senior Apartments.

The four-story complex will include 59 affordable apartments for seniors in Riverside.

The developer, Eden Housing, said the apartments are being built on a state-owned site that previously was home to vacant, one-story office buildings.

The senior complex is being constructed alongside a second phase in the project, the Mulberry Gardens Family Apartments, which will share several community spaces.

The family apartments will include 150 units in one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments for low-income households in Riverside.

“Today marks a significant milestone for the Mulberry Gardens projects,” said Eden Housing CEO Linda Mandolini. “We cannot wait to add more than 200 safe, affordable housing options for seniors and families in the Riverside community.”

The project is being financed through funding from the state, county of Riverside and city of Riverside, the California Energy Commission and Wells Fargo Bank.

Behavioral health campus breaks ground

Work has begun on a half-billion-dollar behavioral health campus in Riverside County.

Mead Valley Wellness Village, with an estimated cost of $517 million broke ground June 12. The money to build it comes from the California Enterprise Development Authority, which issued bonds for the facility.

The 450,000-square-foot campus will have five buildings: a Community Wellness and Education Center, a Children’s and Youth Services building, Urgent Care Services, Supportive Transitional Housing, and Extended Residential Care.

Services will split into three categories: mental health, substance use and a public guardians’ office.

The facility is expected to open in 2026. It should add at least 800 jobs to the community workforce.

Grant money available for small businesses

The city of Riverside is encouraging small business owners to take advantage of two grant programs that will close soon.

For the Small & Micro Business Resiliency Grant, businesses must have annual gross revenue between $10,000 and $2.5 million, employ fewer than 50 people, including owners, be located inside the Riverside city limits and operated before Jan. 1, 2023.

The program recently opened Round 3, which closes Aug. 30. The program includes grant awards up to $25,000 for qualified businesses. The city said the money is limited, and applications will not be reviewed until July 1.

Go online to see if your business qualifies or for more details about the grants: opxportal.com/forms/124585

The second grant is for restaurateurs and does apply beyond the city boundaries. The Restaurants Care Resiliency Fund includes $5,000 grants for independent restaurants.

The money is aimed at technology upgrades, equipment, employee retention and unforeseen hardship.

Applications will be accepted from June 15 through June 30. For more information or to apply, go to restaurantscare.org/resilience

Stater Bros. launches food drive campaign

Stater Bros. Markets, ABC7 and Subaru are hosting the 13th annual Feed SoCal Food Drive.

The drive is raising money for critical supplies needed at Southern California food banks. Participating food banks include Feeding America Riverside/San Bernardino; Food Share of Ventura County; Jacobs & Cushman San Diego Food Bank; Los Angeles Regional Food Bank andSecond Harvest Food Bank of Orange County.