For Immediate Release
Contact: Rahwa Ghirmatzion, 716-480-8212, rahwaghirmatzion.work@gmail.com
EPA announces $20 million Communities Change Grant to local community groups for emergency preparedness, pollution reduction, workforce development, and resiliency projects
Local groups have partnered with academic, philanthropic and local governments
December 17, 2024
Buffalo, NY – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced it has selected 105 applications for the Community Change Grants Program, totaling nearly $1.6 billion in awards to advance local, on-the-ground projects that reduce pollution, increase community climate resilience, and build community capacity. Made possible by President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, the Community Change Grants Program is the single largest investment in environmental and climate justice in history.
EPA Communities Change Grant is a $2 billion dollar allocation in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) funds for environmental and climate justice activities to benefit disadvantaged communities to address environmental and climate justice challenges.
These place-based investments will be focused on community-driven initiatives to be responsive to community and stakeholder input. They are designed to deliver on the transformative potential of the IRA for communities most adversely and disproportionately impacted by climate change, legacy pollution, and historical disinvestments.
The Buffalo Neighborhood Mobilization Hubs Plan is planned and led by frontline organizations and leaders that have collectively been working together in Buffalo for many decades using holistic, community rooted strategies. PUSH Buffalo is the lead applicant and CoNECT is the statutory partner, along with Erie County Restorative Justice Coalition and the Clean Air Coalition of WNY. They have organized broad partnerships that include the University at Buffalo, the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo, City of Buffalo, and Erie County. Rahwa Ghirmatzion, Senior Fellow at the Just Solutions Collective, provided strategy and overall project management.
“We are so pleased to have selected the Buffalo Neighborhood Mobilization Hubs Plan (PUSH Buffalo) to receive funding to help support their amazing work,” said Lisa F. Garcia. “These EPA investments will advance local, on-the-ground projects that reduce pollution, increase community climate resilience, and build community capacity.”
“The Community Change Grant represents a turning point for climate resilience and environmental justice for frontline communities in the City of Buffalo. We celebrate President Biden’s investment in self-determined solutions and grassroots leadership right here in our own neighborhoods, and the Environmental Protection Agency’s commitment to climate justice. We will use this three-year award to develop and implement neighborhood-focused solutions and strategies that live into the People’s Climate Law (New York’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, or CLCPA, passed in 2019). These programs and services will directly address the unique needs of each neighborhood, and be implemented in collaborative, collective action.” (Dawn Wells-Clyburn, Executive Director of PUSH Buffalo)
“We are excited to launch this vital project to support community-led efforts in collaboration with government partners as we work towards health equity and environmental resiliency in Buffalo.” (Jessica Bauer Walker, Executive Director of CoNECT)
“Erie County Restorative Justice Coalition is deeply grateful to the EPA for its investment in this innovative and collaborative community effort to heal and restore our neighborhoods and work towards building a healthy and sustainable Buffalo, where everyone can work, play, learn, live, and thrive.” (Dina Thompson, Executive Director, ECRJC)
“Clean Air welcomes the EPA’s tremendous investment in climate resiliency, led by and for the Buffalo community. Our work on the front lines of the climate crisis has highlighted the need for neighborhood-level resiliency, and we are proud to partner in this crucial effort.” (Chris Murawski, Executive Director, Clean Air Coalition)
“The University at Buffalo College of Arts and Sciences is excited to be collaborating with PUSH Buffalo and other partners on this resilience-building project in Buffalo. We look forward to supporting the students and faculty funded by this grant and are excited to witness the impact that it will make locally and throughout the region.” (Robin G. Schulze, Dean of the UB College of Arts and Sciences)
“We are grateful to President Biden and Senator Chuck Schumer for listening to climate justice leaders on their decades-long fight to address the worst impacts of climate change in our communities. The Communities Change grant is meant to catalyze investments on the frontlines to pave the way for a just and equitable clean energy transition.” (Rahwa Ghirmatzion, Project Manager)
About the Project
PUSH Buffalo and CoNECT each have extensive experience working to engage the local community and outreach to disadvantaged residents. PUSH and CoNECT co-founded ANCHOR (Assisting Needs for Community Health, Opportunity, and Resiliency) as a community-based coalition in 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, to function as a bridge between systems, sectors, organizations, grassroots efforts, and community members. Their mission is to remove barriers and build up support to help Buffalo’s most vulnerable neighborhoods that disproportionately face the first and worst impacts of any acute events, including pandemics, mass shootings, and extreme weather.
This project aims to establish 150 Neighborhood Mobilization Hubs in disadvantaged communities to provide access to services during emergencies. Hubs will have emergency equipment such as backup generators, snow removal equipment, portable solar kits, and more. For shelter-in-place emergencies, the project will include 150 portable network kits, enabling internet access, which will be stored at Community Tech Labs. It will also provide opportunities for workforce development for emergency preparedness and to facilitate the clean energy transition in Buffalo, New York. Project partners include Erie County Restorative Justice Coalition, Clean Air Coalition of WNY, University at Buffalo, Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo, City of Buffalo- Department of Citizen Services, Erie County- Department of Health Equity.
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