(AGENPARL) – ven 21 giugno 2024 Issued: Jun 21, 2024 (2:32pm EDT)
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EPA to Award a Half Million Dollars to South Bronx Organization to Combat
Impacts of Climate Change
NEW YORK (June 21, 2024) – Today, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Regional Administrator Lisa F. Garcia and We Stay/Nos Quedamos joined other
dignitaries at a rooftop community garden to mark the selection of the
organization to be awarded a half million dollars to support a climate justice
project. The grant is under the Environmental Justice Collaborative Problem
Solving Cooperative Agreement Program (EJ CPS) to advance a new climate
resilience and emergency preparedness project in the South Bronx.
Through the project, entitled Climate Justice, Community Resilience, and
Emergency Preparedness Curricula for South Bronx Youth and Adults, Nos
Quedamos will give South Bronx community residents the skills needed to
prepare for climate change and associated impacts such as flooding, blackouts,
and the urban heat island effect. The grant will also support improvements to
physical infrastructure in the form of hubs. These local climate resiliency
hubs at three public sites will be equipped with solar panels, wireless
charging stations, water catchment systems and more. They will serve as havens
during emergency and climate-related events. Nos Quedamos’ project will
bolster community knowledge to increase local climate leadership.
“As we combat extreme heat and other climate issues, EPA is happy to support
organizations like Nos Quedamos leading the way towards sustainable, healthier
communities,” said EPA Regional Administrator Lisa F. Garcia. “This grant,
funded by the Inflation Reduction Act will help support climate resilience
efforts in communities such as the South Bronx in a very real way.”
“We Stay/Nos Quedamos is excited to receive the EJ CPS grant from the EPA,
through which we will be developing a novel environmental justice and housing
justice curriculum for youth leaders in the Bronx, who are on the frontlines
of climate justice and community resiliency work” said Nos Quedamos’ Basil
Alsubee. “Our curriculum is produced through a joint collaboration with the
New York City Environmental Justice Alliance and the City University of New
York, bringing faculty, students, organizers, and youth community members at
the table to discuss learning objectives and pedagogy. Our curriculum centers
on field trips, movie screenings, board games, mapping activities on GIS, and
other interactive skills-based and hyper-local place-based learning tools. The
curriculum combines knowledge and practice in community organizing and
community planning, gearing our youth to be change-makers, educators, and
planners in their own communities.”
“EPA’s EJ CPS program is vital to advancing environmental justice and
helping organizations that provide assistance to communities impacted by
climate change, pollution, and other environmental stressors,” said Senator
Kirsten Gillibrand. “I am thrilled to see We Stay/Nos Quedamos receive this
$500,000 in federal funding from the Inflation Reduction Act that will help
boost climate resilience and emergency preparedness in the South Bronx. As the
impacts of climate change continue to harm our communities, I will continue to
fight for federal resources to support organizations working to advance
environmental justice.”
“As we increasingly feel the effects of climate change, there is no nobler
cause than working on the ground to prepare our communities for the
ever-changing future,” said U.S. Representative Ritchie Torres (NY-15).
“It is my honor to stand with Nos Quedamos and their critical work of
fostering resilience. Congratulations to them on securing this transformative
grant, which I know will be reinvested into the people of the South Bronx and
make a real difference. I look forward to working with the EPA and other
federal agencies to increase opportunities for grassroots environmental
organizations in the South Bronx and beyond.” 
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Interim Commissioner
Sean Mahar said, “I applaud the Biden-Harris Administration, EPA
Administrator Regan, and Regional Administrator Garcia for their continued
commitment and investments to ensure the Bronx and other communities
vulnerable to sources of pollution are able to improve vital physical
infrastructure to increase resiliency in the wake of climate change impacts.
This $500,000 federal investment complements the many actions Governor Hochul,
DEC, and other public and private partners are advancing to help improve
resiliency to extreme heat, flooding, and other climate impacts in
environmental justice communities.”
EPA’s EJ CPS program provides financial assistance to eligible organizations
working to address local environmental or public health issues in their
communities. The program builds upon President Biden’s Executive
Orders 13985 and 14008, creating a designation of funds exclusively for
small nonprofit organizations, thus ensuring that grant resources reach
organizations that may have not applied for federal funding in the past.
We Stay/Nos Quedamos, along with four other New York city based
community-based organizations were selected for EJ CPS grants late last year
totaling close to $1.8 million in total. 
From the start of the Biden-Harris Administration, achieving environmental
justice has been a top priority. in August 2022, Congress passed, and
President Biden signed, the Inflation Reduction Act into law, creating the
largest investment in environmental and climate justice in U.S. history. EPA
received $3 billion in appropriations to provide grants and technical
assistance for activities advancing environmental and climate justice. 
Learn more information on the Environmental Justice Collaborative Problem
Solving Cooperative Agreement Program.