Fresh Air Vallejo, a community-based environmental justice organization, announced earlier this week that it has been awarded a major grant to build local capacity to share meaningful information and local wisdom to promote environmental justice.
This funding aims to enable the organization, its partners, and local community members to collect, analyze, visualize and share critical environmental and health information and to identify desired solutions and offsets to offset current and historical harms. The grant aims to boost engagement and amplify community voices in the creation of Vallejo’s Environmental Justice Element of the General Plan as required by SB1000.
“For too long, decisions about Vallejo’s future have been made without the voices and the data that truly reflect the realities of our most vulnerable communities,” said Fresh Air Vallejo Executive Director, Liat Meitzenheimer in a news release. “This grant allows us to change that by equipping residents with the resources to advocate for their health, well-being, and a more just and sustainable city.”
The initiative will involve a multi-phase approach over the next 18 months including:
- Community Engagement & Collaboration – Partnering with local organizations to ensure
inclusive participation. - Data Collection & Analysis – Gathering essential information on air quality, pollution sources, health outcomes, and community infrastructure using a mix of citizen science and expert-supported research, along with non-traditional documentation such as citizen photos.
- Data Visualization & Solution Identification – Creating accessible reports, presentations,
- and community workshops to empower residents in sharing their vision for a brighter future in multiple planning forums.
- Long-Term Sustainability – Developing new generations of leadership for ongoing community-driven knowledge building, voice and participation efforts.
Fresh Air Vallejo will soon begin hosting community charrettes and workshops to gather local insights and ensure the data collection plan reflects residents’ priorities. Interested community members, local organizations, and policymakers are encouraged to participate.