West Harlem Environmental Action Inc
This organization has already been registered
Someone in your organization has already registered and setup an account. would you like to join their team?Profile owner : d*********t@w***t.o*g
Mission Statement
Founded in 1988, WE ACT is a non-profit, community-based membership organization whose mission is to build healthy communities by ensuring that people of color and/or low-income participate meaningfully in the creation of sound and fair environmental health and protection policies and practices citywide, statewide and at the federal level. The goal of WE ACT's Theory of Change is to empower individuals to be active change-agents in building a democracy that respects and responds to vulnerable communities. Our model prioritizes community organizing, education and training, advocacy and research, and policy development. Our grassroots efforts toward advocacy work and policy-change ultimately improve the well-being of all New Yorkers and provide a blueprint for communities facing similar challenges across the nation.
About This Cause
West Harlem Environmental Action, Inc. (WE ACT) began 25 years ago with a small group of residents who were angry about hazardous environmental exposures in West Harlem and the negligent government and business practices that have long been the cause of unjust environmental health disparities among people of color and low-income populations in Northern Manhattan. This group, the "Sewage Seven,” started an urban environmental justice movement that galvanized grassroots concerns and grew the capacity to empower under-served communities of color, enabling residents to: (1) Defend the local quality of life by advocating for strengthened environmental protection and fair and equitable land use and development practices; (2) Improve indoor and outdoor environmental health through community-based participatory research partnerships and evidence-based campaigns; (3) Work with elected officials and government policymakers to develop needed regulatory and legislative policy and reform; (4) Provide leadership in bridging and achieving consensus among diverse social, political and academic sectors in order to address local, regional and national environmental health and justice concerns. WE ACT established its Washington D.C. Federal Policy office in 2012 to more effectively engage public interest and elected officials in adopting fair and equitable federal, state, and local environmental justice policies. Our Federal Policy Office also serves as the central coordinating site for the Environmental Justice Leadership Forum on Climate Change, a network of 33 grassroots environmental justice organizations from 19 states working to develop just policies and mechanisms that equitably reduce carbon emissions in all communities. WE ACT prioritizes its advocacy and organizing initiatives according to eight healthy community indicators: clean air and climate; equitable transit; waste, pests and pesticide reduction; toxic-free products; healthy food; sustainable land use; open and green space; and healthy indoor environments. Our capacity to influence environmental justice policy is increased through the help of over 200 diverse and engaged members. Organized into five working groups, WE ACT members support peoples’ rights to a healthy community through their involvement with a variety of campaigns, including: Clean Air and Climate – Working toward the elimination of ambient air pollutants emitted from transportation, housing and other private and public facilities. Currently, WE ACT is undertaking the Clean Power, Clean Air, Cleaner Communities campaign, which involves the Environmental Justice Leadership Forum on Climate Change in decision-making on states' implementation planning related to the EPA's new Clean Power rule. Healthy Indoor Environments – The reduction of hazardous environmental exposures in the home, workplace and at school. In November 2014, WE ACT will co-host the NYC Healthy Homes Summit, two days of action-based environmental discussions that will frame policies to protect low-income residents' rights to healthy, affordable housing. WE ACT works to ensure that research surrounding health disparities in low-income communities of color reaches health care providers and policymakers. Equitable Transit – Advocating for affordable, clean, safe and reliable forms of public transportation for the transit-dependent public, regardless of race, income, gender and ability through our Rider Representation Campaign. This would pass state legislation seating at least two voting rider representatives on the Metropolitan Transit Authority Board. Because the five largest transit systems in New York State have no voting rider representation on their governing boards, WE ACT aims to get legislation introduced and passed, at the State level, that would put at least two voting rider representatives on the board of the five largest transit authorities in New York State. Toxic Free Products – To ensure that consumer products do not contain chemicals at levels harmful to human health, we are currently leading efforts to pass the Child Safe Products Act, which would ban the sale of children's products containing the worst 9 of 84,000 chemicals in commerce by 2018. Sustainable Land Use – Advocating land use planning and zoning policies that support community health, wellness and equitable development, WE ACT initiated the Trash to Treasure campaign, a push to transform the 135th Street former Marine Transfer Station (MTS) from a source of significant pollution into a green facility and community resource. Hazardous Waste Worker Training - With partners at the Deep South Center on Environmental Justice at Dillard University, WE ACT is training low-income NYC residents focused in Harlem and the Far Rockaways in new and emerging areas of the hazardous waste workforce, and offering costly certifications free of charge for trainees in Remediation and Prevention, Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response, OSHA Compliance, Construction, and Lead and Asbestos Awareness. Food Justice - WE ACT promotes the right of communities to grow, sell, and eat healthy food (fresh, nutritious, affordable, culturally appropriate, and locally grown). Peoples' Climate March - WE ACT teamed up with Brotherhood/Sister Sol, 350.org and the New York Society for Ethical Culture to mobilize a Northern Manhattan constituency at the People's Climate March in September 2014.