Environmental Justice Grant Awarded To AVillage And Radix

Building on our work in exposing the environmental health risks at Ezra Prentice Homes & the South End, AVillage and the Radix Ecological Sustainability Center have received a $50,000 Environmental Justice grant from the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC).

One focus of the two-year Impact Grant is to inventory environmental concerns in the South End, inform residents, and organize for positive change. Working with residents & a corps of youth trainees, AVillage and Radix will investigate & analyze the environmental harms & risks, as well as assess the benefits of parks and gardens in the South End.

“The health of our neighbors in the South End is a huge concern for AVillage, and this grant is a recognition of the work we have done to bring these concerns to the attention of the public and the policy makers,” said Executive Director Willie J. White.

Stacy Pettigrew, executive director of the Radix Center, said, "We are excited about the opportunity to document both our assets, and the environmental harms that may be affecting our health in the South End.  We also are very pleased that this grant will support our current programs providing environmental education and access to green space in the South End."

To document the environmental inventory, we will create maps & written materials in print and online. We will hold a press conference, and a series of public meetings to share information with local residents. In conjunction with this research, we will also share the results of our health survey at Ezra Prentice, and the ongoing DEC South End Air Quality study, with an emphasis on translating scientific results to the general public. 

Gov. Appoints Rev. Johnson To State-Wide Environmental Justice Group

Rev. Marc Johnson has been appointed to a new Environmental Justice and Just Transition Working Group, to focus on developing policies & programs to ensure a “just transition” to a green and clean energy future in New York State. The working group will advise the administration on the integration of environmental justice & just transition principles into all agency policies, and to shape environmental justice programs identified in Gov. Cuomo’s 2017 State of the State & inform what work products would assist in this effort.

Rev. Johnson, associate pastor of St. John’s Church of God in Christ, is a long-time environmental activist in the South End, and has been serving as Interim Executive Director of AVillage for the past six months. He is continuing his work for AVillage.