Page 41 - BusinessWest July 21, 2021

Climate
challenging Continued from page 33 place to live
with asthma, based on asthma prevalence, mortality, and emer-
gency-room use for asthma.
It’s not reason for celebration, exactly, but it’s a
solid start — one that coincides with the Springfield Healthy Homes Asthma Program and other com- munity health worker asthma interventions in the region, as well as an improvement in air quality as reported by the American Lung Assoc. State of the Air report.
“Although still a serious problem that affects
many families and communities in our region, this improvement shows that the work to improve asthma outcomes is having an impact,” the Pioneer Valley Asthma Coalition noted. “This is good news for our local families and communities. However, there are still questions to be answered about addressing the causes of asthma onset and asthma flareups.”
If the projects being pursued by the Live Well Springfield Climate Justice Initiative put a dent in asthma incidence — the idea being that smarter choices in the realms of energy and development will have environmental payoffs — that would represent fulfillment of some long-held goals, Hudson said.
“We looked at how we, as a community, are going to work toward implementation of some of those goals,” she said of the process of choosing two spe- cific policies. “That’s how we narrowed it: which one would have the biggest impact on health, which one would have the biggest impact on racial equity, and which would get us closer to impacting reducing greenhouse-gas emissions, which are causing the cli- mate crisis?”
Another factor was deciding which policies the community would most eagerly support, Bilal added. Now, the coalition has three years to campaign for
Relocate
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He doesn’t know if that emigration will continue, but he also doubts families who have moved to West- ern Mass. or Southern Vermont for work or other rea- sons will want to uproot again after the pandemic, so there may be some staying power to these trends.
Indeed, the real-estate market in Western Mass. has been booming, with the latest monthly report from the Realtor Assoc. of Pioneer Valley showing sales volume up 20.7% across Hampden, Hampshire, and Franklin counties from June 2020 to June 2020, and the median price up 20.4%.
But while Franklin County’s median price is up 23%, its sales actually fell by 10%, reflecting, perhaps, the shortage of homes to meet demand, which is, obviously, hiking those prices. In fact, current inven- tory of homes for sale in Franklin County is down 52.9% from a year ago.
Adams said Greenfield officials recognize the need for more housing, especially market-rate housing in the downtown area, noting that upper-level residen-
Quitting
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the reason, people are quitting in higher numbers, and employers must respond proactively, both Wise and Pileski said. And raising wages is just part of the equation. In some cases, they may need to be more flexible when it comes to where people work and when, although Wise does not believe that’s a huge issue in the 413.
As for wages, she said they are “starting to come up in Western Massachusetts,” with the pace and rate of climb determined by how competitive things
these policies and push specific aspects of their implementation. Community education will be a key element.
“It’s a learning space,” she said. “This is not my wheelhouse, but as we’ve been talking about the climate impacts, and who is impacted, it became clear there’s absolutely a connection to racial-equity issues.”
Bilal conceded that much work needs to be done to help people understand that populations most affected by environmental issues like asthma, and who will be most affected by climate change, are often urban, low-income, and/or communities of color.
“How can we support these communities that need to have some preparedness and understanding of how your asthma is triggered, how your environ- ment connects to your health?” she went on. “How is our community infrastructure built around them that could perpetuate the problem? So our goal, with this grant, is to work with the community, work with city officials, and advocate for policy changes that would have an impact in addressing racial-equity issues as well as environmental-justice issues and climate.”
Environment for Change
The Kresge Foundation has been pursuing such issues on a national level.
“We are proud to support organizations around the country like the Public Health Institute of West- ern Massachusetts that are doing crucial work to shift policies, systems, and practices that will have a last- ing impact on climate, health, and racial equity, and will help to create a more just planet for everyone,” said Lois DeBacker, managing director of Kresge’s Environment Program, when the grant award was announced.
And Kresge isn’t the only foundation paying atten-
tial development would create mixed-use vibrancy downtown.
Understand how critical downtown is to the city’s future, municipal officials were getting ready to update the downtown revitalization plan well before the pandemic, identifying what the strengths and challenges were in the corridor, she explained. “We want to develop in a way that’s thoughtful and local and makes sense for the business community.”
Greenfield was also among the Massachusetts communities that received local Rapid Recovery Plan funding. “That helps us identify actionable plans we can put in place fairly quickly to ramp up the busi- ness community,” Adams said. “It means taking a look at both the public and private realms and the business mix and who needs to be at the table to make a comprehensive plan to breathe life back into our downtown.”
It’s a downtown, she said, that already offered entertainment in venues like Hawks and Reed Per- forming Arts Center and had been talking about cre-
are getting in a specific sector and how desperate employers are feeling.
Bottom Line
Adding more perspective, Rosskothen said things are certainly desperate within his sector.
“Everyone I talk to is dealing with this right now — everyone,” he noted, adding that he has seen and heard about companies offering bonuses to start and bonuses to stay a certain number of months.
He’s opting to give the bonuses to existing employ-
tion to PHIWM’s work. Earlier this month, the insti- tute was awarded a two-year grant of $160,000 from the Tufts Health Plan Foundation to work with the Live Well Springfield Coalition to foster an age-friend- ly ecosystem and health-equity approach to policies and practices in Springfield and Hampden County.
The coalition will use this funding to ensure hous- ing policies and solutions make resources accessible to all older people. The work includes collabora-
tion with the Sheriff’s Department, criminal-justice reform advocates, housing officials, and behavioral- health providers to advance supports for older adults with criminal records to ensure housing and health access; the development of an action plan and digital toolkit to support older adults’ health at home; and an effort to recruit and train older adult resident lead- ers who can advocate for age-friendly best practices and initiatives. Key partners include Baystate Geri- atrics, TechSpring, Baystate Neighborhood Health Centers, New North Citizen’s Council, Men of Color Health Awareness, the Alliance for Digital Equity, and the Age Friendly Advisory Board.
“Older people were among the hardest-hit by the pandemic,” said Nora Moreno Cargie, president of Tufts Health Plan Foundation. “These investments will support community resiliency and build on what we’ve learned in the past 16 months — that collabo- ration across organizations and sectors strengthens communities and result in better outcomes.”
It’s a philosophy shared by PHIWM and the Live Well Springfield Climate Justice Initiative, which is why their current work to tackle climate, health, and equity issues will continue, with plenty of buy-in from the area residents, old and young alike, with the most at stake. u
Joseph Bednar can be reached at [email protected]
ating outdoor dining before the pandemic acceler- ated that process.
“From talking to people, the draw downtown is really experience-based now versus when we were younger, and it was a place to buy goods and ser- vices,” Letourneau said. “People come here to eat out, for world-class music venues, arts, great antique shops, stuff you can’t find anywhere else. I think it’s experiential, and it’s a good feel for downtown.”
The question now is, will the city put all those pieces together, plus the draw of well-established municipal broadband, plus possibly expanded pas- senger rail, and become a destination of choice for an increasingly remote workforce?
“This is our opportunity now,” Adams said. “Peo- ple are reassessing where they want to be and what they want to work, and they should take a look at Greenfield.” u
Joseph Bednar can be reached at [email protected]
ees who refer people who are eventually hired. And overall, he and his managers are working harder at recognizing and rewarding long-time employees.
“I have a really hard time giving an incentive to a new employee to start with us,” he said. “I’d rather give an incentive to an old employee for being loyal.”
That’s just one way employers are coping with a quit rate — and all that comes with it — that just won’t quit. u
George O’Brien can be reached at [email protected]
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JULY 21, 2021 41
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