In a recent visit to the Office of Sustainability and Environment (OSE) at the Seattle Municipal Tower, the Community Health Workers Coalition for Migrants and Refugees (CHWCMR) brought 14 young program participants and their families into the fold of environmental activism, a move supported by funding from Seattle’s Environmental Justice Fund, as reported by Seattle's Green Space. CHWCMR’s programs support Latinx immigrants by educating them on the intersections of climate change, health, and racial inequality.
Marking their new climate change and environmental justice curriculum, the CHWCMR’s initiative aims to enlighten and position Latinx youth at the heart of combating the global environmental crisis, largely due to funding previously secured through the EJ Fund. They have developed this curriculum to empower these young minds and, by doing so, inspire leading voices for sustainability from within vulnerable communities. In an experiential workshop, the group measured air quality both inside the OSE and out, discovering the disparity largely owed to COVID-19 mitigation filters – a revelation that “grabbed the youth's attention”, as Mary Cruz, a Lay Leader for CHWCMR, told Greenspace Seattle.
With concerted efforts to introduce these youth to BIPOC leaders in the environmental sector, the educational foray extended to meet-and-greets with OSE’s Climate Justice team, who shared insights on resilience hubs planning, workforce development, and the rollout of the Green New Deal. Dr. Ileana Ponce-Gonzalez, CHWCMR’s founder, emphasized the fundamental role of knowledge and leadership in environmental justice for Latinx youth, suggesting that their increased awareness and vocational prospects in this realm could drive tangible change.
Notably, many migrants are pushed from their countries of origin due to environmental threats and end up in US industries where they face similar hazards, lack of green spaces, and health challenges; “The more Latinx folks know about the environmental hazards that affect them and are aware of the job opportunities in this field, the more they can make a difference,” Dr. Ponce-Gonzalez articulated, highlighting the vicious cycle faced by immigrants who flee environmental perils at home only to confront similar or new threats in their new communities, this information is credited to Seattle’s Green Space blog.
