Communities for a Better Environment
Founded in 1978, Communities for a Better Environment (CBE) seeks to build the power of California’s communities of color and low-income people to achieve environmental health and justice by preventing and reducing pollution and building green, healthy, and sustainable communities and environments. CBE provides residents in blighted and heavily polluted urban communities in California with organizing skills, leadership training, and legal, scientific, and technical assistance, so that they can successfully confront threats to their health and well-being.
CBE's Climate Adaptation and Resiliency Enhancement Program (CARE) seeks to address the immediate impacts of global warming upon residents of Richmond and Wilmington, California. The program uses a collaborative approach by working with CBE members, decision-makers, businesses, academic partners, and other organizations to identify adaptation and mitigation solutions, driven by the community. CBE works to ensure vulnerable communities are prioritized during adaptation planning and in the allocation of resources.
The CARE Program's main components are:
- Local Climate and Vulnerabilities Assessment
- Community Education and Leadership Development
- Creating an Implementation Plan
- Ensure Community Equity in Adaptation Planning
- Communications and Dissemination of Information
With input from residents through workshops and advisory board meetings, CBE created the Roadmap to Resilience as a tool for residents to use to achieve environmental justice in adaptation planning. Other initial projects include: providing residents with cooling shelters, permeable street surfaces, cool/green roofs, access to affordable healthy food and water, and access to renewable, locally-generated sources of energy.
Phone: (323) 826-9771
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