^EDSr^ Community Action for a Renewed Environment D ^7JCARE Program X PRO^ Quarterly Highlights — August 2006 CARE Making Strides for Community Health and Environment U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Community Action for a Renewed Environment (CARE) program promotes local action by providing technical support and federal funding directly to community-based collaborative partnerships. CARE's continued success is evidenced by the twelve current CARE communities reporting significant second-quarter achievements in each of the four CARE process stages. So far the CARE Projects have over 210 partner organizations and have leveraged over $600,000. More detailed information about each of the twelve communities' efforts can be found inside under "CARE Communities in Action" (p. 2-4). New Haven CARE Project Addresses Toxics at Port CARE Well Represented at Community Involvement Conference It - l A Douglas Eller of Grace Hill presents at Community Involvement Conference Five current CARE communities and their respective regions were highlighted in three separate panels at this year's Community Involvement Conference (CIC) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, June 27-30. Organized by EPA annually, the CIC brings together public participation and community involvement professionals from EPA and its federal, state, tribal, and local partners. The City of New Haven and Muske- gon County Environmental Coordinating Council — Level II CARE communities — presented implementation steps, ways their partners have participated in the pro- jects, sustainability and resource activities, and challenges they have been facing. Two Level i communites, DeKalb County Board of Health and Clean Air Council of Southeast Philadelphia, discussed the growth of their partnerships and the various steps for identifying and prioritizing risks. They then requested advice for address- ing some of their challenges. Additionally, Grace Hill Settlement House, a Level II project, shared the benefits of logic modeling. Audience members were engaged during all three panel sessions. Final 2006 CARE Requests for Proposal Applicants Selected Over 110 project proposals were submitted to CARE by the April 10th deadline. Regional CARE teams ranked and forwarded on select project submissions to Headquarters for final review. Afterwards, mid-May, a committee of Regional and Headquarters CARE staff met in Washington, DC, to decide upon which would advance to the final phase of the application process. Ten Level I (about $75,000 each) and seven Level II projects (about $300,000 each) were chosen. 2006 final awardees will be officially announced in October. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Community Action for a Renewed Environment (CARE) program helps communities address risks from various sources of toxic pollutants in their local environment CARE Mail Code 8001A U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW Washington, DC 20460 Phone: 1-877-CARE-909 inside This Edition: CARE Communities in Action...... Tools and Resources Upcoming Events $ 't> LOCAL PARTNERSHIPS. HEALTHY COMMUNITIES. % PR0^ http://www.epa.gov/care ------- Page 2 CARE Communities in Action: U.S. EPA CARE Program: Quarterly Highlights - August 2006 There are four steps in the CARE process: joining together, identifying problems & solutions, implementing solutions & reducing risks, and becoming self-sustaining. Joining Together Sharing Resources Over 109 organizations or individuals are participating in the Oneida County (NY) CARE project. The partnership has drafted several documents, including "Visions of Success," "CARE Community Collaboration Philosophy," and "Roles in the CARE project". At monthly meetings, a table is made available for community handouts. This enables team mem- bers to share information, from the distribution of radon test kits to various light pollution materials. 2005 CARE Communities il| Level~ ID jL Le'veHIn Cleaner-burning Equipment used Building Alliances Clean Air Council (CAC) of Southeast Philadelphia. PA is engaged in building trust and capturing the attention of local port officials, businesses, unions and civic groups. The CAC learned that several port operators switched their equipment from diesel-fueled to relatively cleaner propane or electric power due to increased con- cern for employee health and safety and greater efficiency. These employee- centered concerns open the door for unions to play an important role in expanding CAC's actions. In addition, several groups, including the Coast Guard's Ecological Risk Assessment, an Environmental Justice Regional Citizen's Committee, the Delaware Valley Goods Movement Task Force, and Philadelphia Diesel Difference Working Group, joined a multi-media Port Task Force to create a comprehensive approach in expanding the port area. Identifying Problems & Solutions involving Schools A series of community meetings and workshops at 3 elementary schools helped engage residents in identifying sources of toxics for Pacoima (CA) Beautiful. In addition, students at California State University in Northridge walked throughout the community to see and document problematic land uses. Also, the class is researching busi- ness plans, risk assessment maps and other data to provide a better understanding local sources of toxics. Expanding Public Information International District Housing Alliance (Seattle) held two "resource fairs" on March 29th and April 22nd at the Annual International District Spring Clean-Up where community residents received information about indoor and outdoor air quality, drinking water quality, and solid waste/recycling/land use. In response to community requests additional information about seafood safety, IDHA is work- ing with the Washington Department of Health and WA Fish and Wildlife to coor- dinate programs that connect water quality and seafood safety. International District Housing Alliance Community Meeting Convening Rural Counties Northwest New Mexico Council of Governments launched its 2-year CARE project by establishing CARE working groups in 3 of its counties. San Juan College hosted the first meeting for San Juan County; the Future Foundations Family Center convened a meeting in Cibola County; and the Gallup/McKinley County Chamber of Commerce launched a partnership dinner for McKinley County stakeholders. ------- U.S EPA CARE Program: Quarterly Highlights - August 2006 Page 3 Implementing Solutions & Reducing Risks Reducing Air Pollution New Haven's CARE partnership successfully engaged St. Raphael's Hospital on a proposed boiler conversion pro- gram. As a result, the hospital will burn natural gas from at least April through August each year, which will reduce emissions of harmful pollutants (nitrogen oxide, sulfur dioxide and particulate matter) by more than 15 tons a year. In addition the hospital agreed to a complete Environmental Management System project at the hospital. New Partners, New Efforts Groundwork Denver's (CO) CARE Project has had remarkable success in bringing numerous neighborhood associations and businesses into HAND. Twenty-five organizations are part of the CARE partnership including Denver City Council members, the Regional Air Quality Council, Clayton Neighbor- hood Association, Colorado Motor Carriers Association, Elyria Swansea Business Association, the Denver Tobacco Prevention and Control Program to Nestle Purina Petcare Association. The new partners have enhanced pro- ject activities. For example, volunteers from General Motors assisted school groups in performing water quality sampling. Groundwork Denver's Partnership Team Targeted Seasonal Effort This spring, the Muskegon (Ml) County Environmental Coordinating Council is focusing on working with the Mona Lake Watershed Council to prepare for the fishing and boating season. Posters for boat launch areas are being prepared to provide information on proper fish cleaning techniques to minimize ingestion of pollution. Becoming Self-Sustaining Gaining Foundation and United Way Attention Although a Level I project, DeKalb County (GA) CARE, has made broad steps towards sustainability. Level I pro- jects are designed to form multi-stakeholder partnerships to identify risks and prioritize concerns. United Way of- fered assistance to the CARE partnership by facilitating a community focus group. Agnes Scott College — funded by a CDC initiative to incorporate public health concepts into undergraduate colleges — required its students to as- sist in the community CARE project as part of their practicum. Additionally, the DeKalb County CARE project man- ager was selected to be part of a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation effort called CONNECT. CONNECT is the Foundation's effort to educate policy makers on public health efforts in local communities. Developing Business Plans RCAP Solutions. Inc. (NH) worked with an Antioch New England Institute's economist to look at all waste manage- ment options and develop a method to evaluate their costs, environmental impacts, infrastructure needs, public ac- ceptability and feasibility. Small seed grants were awarded to local communities to pilot collection of electronics, curbside pick-ups and other pollution prevention options. Evaluating Results University of Washington PhD Candidates have agreed to conduct an evaluation of International District Housing Alliance's (Seattle) Wilderness Inner-city Leadership Development (WILD) program, as well as the effectiveness of its partnership. WILD, is a youth leadership development program which focuses on environmental health and jus- tice issues providing cultural and language appropriate services to low-income communities and is a key part of the IDHA CARE project. Grace Hill Settlement House (St Louis) has established baseline idling measurements as part of a new effort to reduce school bus idling. These have been taken at schools prior to idle-reduction efforts, and will be compared to measurements taken following education and intervention efforts. Leveraging Funds to Expand Outreach Through CARE funding, Groundwork Denver has leveraged $20,000 to expand the use of promotora outreach workers into additional neighborhoods in northeast Denver and to add information about health impacts from envi- ronmental tobacco smoke. ------- Page 4 U.S. EPA CARE Program: Quarterly Highlights - August 2006 Building Partnerships in Environmental Justice Communities At a June 15 meeting in Atlanta hosted by EPA Region 4 and Department of Energy, a CARE panel consisting of representatives from DeKalb County Board of Health, Center for Environmental Information, and Groundwork Denver, discussed the importance of collaboration. The panel highlighted the value of CARE partnerships; provided impor- tant tips to Environmental Justice communities; and answered questions regarding the challenges projects may encounter. Groundwork Denver provided a specific presenta- tion on the progress a community organization can make from an Environmental Jus- tice Collaborative Problem-Solving grant to a CARE grant. Working with the American Bar Association The ABA has invited attor- ney's to do pro bono work with CARE communities. So far lawyers have agreed to work with 5 CARE com- munities. Tools and Resources for CARE Communities Household Environmental Education Conference Call The CARE program is conducting a series of training calls at the request of CARE communities. On June 8, the first conference call focused on "Household Environmental Education" and provided CARE communities with infor- mation on environmental risks to households. Twelve CARE community partnerships participated on the call mod- erated by Charlie Chase of Groundwork Denver. Four CARE partnerships (International District Housing Alliance, Groundwork Denver, Grace Hill Settlement, and Pacoima Beautiful) shared techniques for providing household en- vironmental education to communities; best practices in providing technical advice; challenges they encountered; and lessons learned. Six specific resources were highlighted — Center for Disease Control (CDC) Healthy Homes, Alliance for Healthy Homes, HUD Health Homes, and EPA's lead, indoor air and pesticides programs. These re- sources are available to CARE communities through an online information-sharing site, called QuickPlace. Upcoming Events: •I SeptembeM 14,U 20Q6ttd CARE training conference call: How to Engage Small Community Businesses •I September 18$BM09§S)C and CARE collaboration meeting (Atlanta) •1 Octobefl 200& New CARE cooperative agreements awarded •M Novembom 6p 2O08CARE presentation at the American Public Health Association conference (Boston) •I November" 13m 2O06CARE panel at the Brownfields Confer- ence, (Boston) *1 Novembers, 15-17U 20S6Qnd Annual CARE National Training Workshop (Seattle) CARE staff members at outreach booth National Sustainable Design Expo May 2006 (Washington, DC) £ < 33 O \ PRQ^ Z ID o T LOCAL PARTNERSHIPS. HEALTHY COMMUNITIES. http://www.epa.gov/care ------- |