Small businesses and entrepreneurs form the backbones of thriving communities, and right now, they’re struggling. This is especially true in the low-income neighborhoods and communities of color hit hardest by the coronavirus pandemic. COVID-19 laid bare the profound impact that our neighborhoods have on our health. People in low-income communities of color living with higher… Continue reading Boosting Local Businesses
The past year has shown us what we can accomplish when faced with unprecedented upheaval. Now we are focused on driving forward a future that is equitable and healthy for all – while also confronting the most urgent environmental threats in the here and now. The work we do together in the next five years… Continue reading Conservation Matters Summer 2021: Year in Review
“Too many communities in Greater Boston have been plagued with disinvestment and unhealthy homes for generations,” said Maggie Super Church, Vice President of Healthy and Resilient Communities at Conservation Law Foundation. “Old, entrenched investment models for housing and small business exclude low-income communities and worsen disparities in health and sustainability. This investment from Dana-Farber will lead to healthier, more resilient neighborhoods and we can’t wait to get to work.”
On Talbot Avenue in Boston’s Dorchester neighborhood, a new apartment building is bucking the gentrification trend. Developed in partnership with the people already living in the area, 191 Talbot Avenue adds 14 new homes to Dorchester’s housing stock. Rents here lock at rates below market price, allowing neighbors to stay in their community.
In 2020, the EPA awarded CLF a DERA grant to partner with New York Cruise Lines, Inc. Grant recipient shares how this $1.8 million grant makes a difference for the community, the environment, and the cruise industry.
As the first project funded by CLF’s Healthy Neighborhoods Fund, Chelsea Flats showcases inclusive and sustainable development.
This report provides an overview of our experience with the Healthy Neighborhoods Equity Fund (HNEF). We hope to inform other efforts investing in housing and retail in ways that can lead to equitable changes in neighborhood health and environmental conditions.
It’s tempting to boil down good health solely to factors like medical care, healthy food, and exercise. However, many other dynamics, like historic redlining and racial segregation, along with substandard housing, air pollution, crumbling infrastructure, and lack of access to jobs, healthy food, and green space, all play a role. Perhaps no one understands the interplay of these factors better than those who work in healthcare, including Dr. Thea James, who serves as Boston Medical Center’s Associate Chief Medical Officer, Vice President of Mission, and Director of the Violence Prevention.
The presidential election result is a welcome relief – especially amid the ongoing stresses of an unrelenting pandemic, hobbling economic hardship, and an overdue racial reckoning. We all deserve to take a moment and celebrate that. But even as we see the core values of our democracy vindicated after relentless voter suppression efforts, now is not the time to grow complacent.
CLF forges partnerships with maritime companies to leverage a creative funding solution for clean air: the EPA’s Diesel Emissions Reduction Act (DERA).
