Sustainability

Integrating Climate Change Activism & Environmental Justice into Family Support Programming

The lives and health of those living in low-income communities and grappling with poverty are disproportionately affected by and inextricably bound to the effects of climate change. Greatly influenced by the Civil Rights movement, environmental justice is a social movement that strives to ensure there is an equitable approach to the opportunities and obstacles created by economic production. Like climate change, environmental injustice affects communities of color and vulnerable communities disproportionately and consequently there is a natural intersectional opportunity to bridge the climate change activism and environmental justice fields with family-serving programs.

This initiative will engage the family support field to make climate change activism and environmental justice an integral part of the work they do with families, while simultaneously sharing a family lens, relational tools, and practices to conversations about climate change and justice. In order to bridge these fields, Be Strong Families will convene a small group of thought leaders from each field to develop a framework and work plan to share and implement nationally.

• Complete a landscape study of climate change activism / environmental justice organizations operating at the community level and existing efforts and involvement of community-based family support / family serving programs.

• Develop strategic partnerships with key national thought leaders in climate change, environmental justice and family support/family serving networks.

• Host a meeting / conference and convene 30 thought leaders.

• Share, fund, and implement the plan emerging from this meeting nationally.