Rose Foundation's New Voices Are Rising
2010 EPA EJ Grantee

The Rose Foundation's New Voices Are Rising Program is a youth-focused, community-driven environmental justice and civic engagement project that works with students from low-income communities and communities of color in Oakland and Richmond, California.  With a $25,000 EJ Grant, the Rose Foundation will help students explore the concepts of environmental justice, and allow youth to learn by actively engaging in legislative and regulatory processes. Participating students attended an intensive summer program focusing on strategies for addressing climate change, as well as a series of classroom presentations on environmental health, environmental civics, and the connections between air pollution environmental health disparities in low-income communities and communities of color the East Bay. They will learn about the federal, state, and local roles in developing laws and regulations that impact climate change, air pollution, and community health, and they will also learn key analytical tools and public speaking skills that will encourage them to participate effectively in public efforts to improve air quality.   The Rose Foundation works with EXCEL High School Law & Government Academy, 2607 Myrtle Street in West Oakland, among other institutions in Oakland and Richmond.

The Watershed Project’s Richmond Greenway Garden Project
2010 EJ Grantee

The Watershed Project, a non-profit organization with a 13-year history of working in the Richmond community, will lead the Richmond Greenway Bioswale and Native Plant Garden (Greenway Garden) project, a community based effort to transform a section of abandoned railroad into a transportation, education, and recreation resource for the community. The project will set an example for the City by using low impact biological and cost effective ways of removing storm water pollutants, as well as encourage green approaches to cleaning local storm waters. The Greenway Garden will restore a wildlife habitat in the heart of urban Richmond, educate the surrounding community about local gardening and demonstrate how the native habitat can reduce the need for pesticides in adjacent vegetable and fruit gardens. The project is designed to improve water quality in the Bay by reducing storm water and urban runoff pollution, increasing awareness of Low Impact Design best management practices, and increasing environmental literacy in the Richmond community.

Urban Habitat’s Community Climate Action Engagement Project
2010 EJ Grantee

Urban Habitat will use an Environmental Justice Small Grant to support the Community Climate Action Engagement Project in Richmond, California. The purpose of the project is to 1) increase the Richmond community's ability to engage in the development of an Energy and Climate Action Plan (ECAP); and 2) to engage Richmond's decision makers in addressing the impacts that climate change has on the city's low-income communities and communities of color. The organization will accomplish this by creating and implementing a "Climate Justice Curriculum" that connects climate change to local and regional efforts around transportation justice, affordable housing, equitable development and quality green jobs. It will build public awareness regarding the threats of climate change and the benefits of developing a local ECAP through public alerts and briefing sessions, and work to increase the capacity of Richmond residents and stakeholders to help them participate effectively in planning efforts related to climate change.

Viviendo Verde Ya! (Living Green Now)
2010 EJ Grantee

The Viviendo Verde Ya! Project (in San Rafael’s Canal District in San Rafael, CA) will expand the role of promotores (community health workers) in the Canal district by working with Promotores Verdes (a grassroots organization) to mentor a network of volunteer environmental leaders, advocate for environmental change in the community, and develop a community endorsed and scientifically reviewed toolkit designed to meaningfully engage the Latino/Indigenous community in environmental change. The expected results include 1) the adoption of Integrated Pest Management practices and a reduction in pesticide use in the home, 2) strategies to reduce water intrusion and mold growth in the home to improve air quality and reduce asthmagens, and 3) a reduction in the use of toxic substances including pesticides in the workplace. Finally, local government, school, and housing improvements that reduce toxic exposures, improve indoor air quality, and improve community knowledge about local consequences of climate changes.