Page 32 - BusinessWest July 21, 2021

The Sky’s the Limit
Initiative Aims to Tackle Climate Change, Health as Equity Issues
By Joseph Bednar
Dozens of stakeholders in what’s known as the Live Well Springfield Climate Justice Initiative had been meeting
regularly to discuss strategies for combating climate change from a social-justice perspec- tive when the pandemic suddenly disrupted those efforts, as it disrupted everything else.
“We had great meetings, then all of a sudden we couldn’t meet in person,” said Sarita Hudson, director of Programs and Development at the Public Health Institute of Western Massachusetts (PHIWM), a key player in Live Well Springfield initiatives. And shutting down those meetings was the least of participants’ concerns, at a time when some of them were suddenly stressed about losing their jobs and being able to pay
for food and rent, or wondering how they were going to work while keeping their kids focused on remote schoolwork at home. “There were so many other urgent issues.”
But Samantha Bilal, program manager at PHIWM, was reminded by one of those residents that the discussions had to continue.
“She said, ‘this work is still important. Climate change is still important to me’ — even though she’s an older adult who was figuring out what life would look like and how to stay safe,” Bilal told BusinessWest.
“It’s kind of a balancing act — how can we
think about these climate-change issues, which are global and at times overwhelming, while you’re still trying to address your emergency needs in the midst of this pandemic?” she went on. “I appreciated that all of our residents and stakeholders didn’t stop being involved, even though they had a clear, life-changing issue that could have taken them out of participation.”
Momentum has returned, however, with a recent $600,000 grant to PHIWM from the Kresge Foundation, to advance policy solutions aimed at combating cli- mate change and equitably reducing health risks in low- income communities.
of Springfield, and partners from other sectors to develop multi-year work plans that address com- munity-defined health and climate priorities.
“Climate change, health, and equity, all these policies are interconnected in how they impact communities, and especially communities of color,” Bilal said. “Exorbitant changes in the cli- mate and weather patterns are going to have a
“It’s kind of a balancing act — how can we think about these climate- change issues, which are global and at times overwhelming, while you’re still trying to address your emergency needs
in the midst of this pandemic?”
significant impact on lower-income families, transient families, and communities of color that are still struggling in other ways to meet their basic health-equity needs going forward.”
Jessica Collins, executive director of PHIWM, noted that “Springfield has tremendous assets to
The Public Health Insti-
tute of Western Massa-
chusetts is one of 14 com-
munity-based nonprofits
nationwide receiving grant
funding as part of the Kresge
Foundation’s Climate Change, Health and Equity initiative. With this funding, PHIWM will work with Live Well Springfield coalition members including the Resident Advisory Board, Pioneer Valley Planning Commission, Way Finders, Arise for Social Justice, Neighbor to Neighbor, the city
SAMANTHA BILAL
32 JULY 21, 2021
BUSINESS OF AGING
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