Con Edison Awards $4 Million to Support Climate Justice Resiliency in NYC and Westchester

At a ceremony tonight in the Bronx, Con Edison is awarding $4 million in grants to six nonprofits for their creative approaches to combatting the effects of extreme heat and other climate-related weather events on disadvantaged and marginalized communities across the five boroughs and Westchester County.

“Con Edison is proud to invest in these partners who are committed to resiliency and confronting the impacts of climate change in our communities,” said Jen Hensley, senior vice president Corporate Affairs. “These organizations are doing the important work of developing New York’s climate leaders and preparing communities for extreme weather.”

The company chose proposals that create leaders, expand community-based knowledge, empower advocacy, and demonstrate activities that plan, prepare, and support community members for climate events.

Con Edison’s Climate Change Resiliency Plan details the kinds of weather events that disproportionately impact disadvantaged and historically marginalized communities. The organizations receiving the grants serve Westchester, Queens, the Bronx, Brooklyn, Staten Island and one city-wide initiative. They include:

The Point CDC – Bronx

The Point will use the funding to increase the Hunts Point community’s capacity to anticipate, withstand, and recover from shocks and stresses that include extreme heat and humidity, extreme weather events, and precipitation or flooding. Through its network of Community Stewards, it will enhance social cohesion and collective action within the community and improve access to resources and opportunities for the people of Hunts Point.

“The value we offer the Hunts Point community is always through the lens of environmental justice, whether the issue is about asthma, traffic rerouting or extreme weather,” said Maria Torres, president and cofounder, The Point Community Development Corporation. “Con Edison is providing long-term funding that enables us to make connections and share solutions.”

New York Disaster Interfaith Services – New York City Wide

NYDIS will offer audits and retrofit grants to New York City houses of worship. It will promote green, local workforce development and program sustainability by implementing a training program for Green City Force corps members, who will help deliver audits and lead climate resilience round tables for community stakeholders.

“Houses of worship are the primary social networks within many communities,” said Peter Gudaitis, executive director and CEO, New York Disaster Interfaith Services.  “Protecting those houses – those buildings – is protecting the essence of the community. With this funding, NYDIS will be able to perform walk-throughs on energy efficiency and climate audits to protect against vulnerabilities, improve efficiency and save money.”

Nonprofit Staten Island – Staten Island

Nonprofit Staten Island will develop a Community Climate Corps with educational workshops and training, advocacy, and community projects. These efforts will empower residents of local disadvantaged communities and throughout the borough to play a role in responding to environmental burdens and climate change risks. It will also incorporate an advocacy campaign to raise awareness of climate risks.

“Con Edison sees the impact of climate in our borough,” said Tatiana Arguello, executive director Nonprofit Staten Island. “This makes for a perfect union to invest in education, preparedness, workshops, training, resource distribution and more. We now can put needed knowledge and resources in the hands of the community.”

Groundwork Hudson Valley & Hudson River Museum – Yonkers

Groundwork Hudson Valley will engage residents in identifying and addressing extreme heat issues in their own neighborhoods. It will create an advocacy process to build and expand the use of shade structures across the community and the region. At the Hudson River Museum, the community will have the opportunity to learn about design iteration process and provide feedback. The project will install shade structure demonstration projects in two community settings.

“Science and the environment are the intersection of the work that we are doing together with the Hudson River Museum,” said Oded Holzinger, executive director, Groundwork Hudson Valley. “This project will amplify our climate justice messages using creativity and art.”

“We are excited to work together to create solutions with the people who will live in and among climate-impacted neighborhoods,” said Masha Turchinsky, director and CEO, Hudson River Museum. “This is going to be a place where the community that is impacted can weigh in and talk about their sustainable future.”

We Stay/Nos Quedamos, Inc. – South Bronx

We Stay/Nos Quedamos will prepare youth leaders to lead the activation of the Melrose Resiliency HUBS. The HUBS are shelters powered by a solar canopy, with stormwater management systems and broadband access. The organization will also improve the Melrose community’s environmental literacy, and provide resources needed to adapt to climate change, and passion for civic engagement. The goal is to increase community-centered responses to environmental burdens and climate change risks.

“We’re community planners, that means we build,” said Jessica Clemente, president and CEO We Stay/Nos Quedamos, Inc. “Con Edison’s investment in this grant is helping us build civic engagement around the problem of climate change. Listening to community concerns, understanding who is at risk and what their challenges are is key to making sure that solutions to climate change are sustained and lasting.”

UPROSE – Brooklyn

UPROSE will create an extreme heat resilience strategy called Cool Refuge as part of Sunset Park’s community resilience plan. The plan will mobilize community assets and resources to provide cooling center sanctuaries during heat waves.

It will organize and engage 77 faith-based organizations to operate block-based cooling sanctuaries for Sunset Park youths and other vulnerable populations during periods of extreme heat. UPROSE will assess faith-based organizations for participation, identify any obstacles or operational challenges, and secure commitments to participate. The assessment will include evaluating the possibility of solar installations.

“Con Edison’s funding helps make it possible for us to work collectively to address the impacts of extreme heat in our community and operationalize a just transition,” said Elizbeth Yeampierre, executive director UPROSE. “Our Cool Refuge program will activate faith-based institutions to provide people with relief from heat and perhaps food and water.  The grant will help us engage part of the community that is so essential to life in Sunset Park and we are grateful.”

Con Edison selected the winning proposals from more than 49 submitted in response to its request for grant proposals.

The RFP reflects Con Edison’s community giving strategy to invest in nonprofits that share the company’s vision to combat the effects of climate change, advance social justice, environmental stewardship, and create green jobs in the communities it serves throughout the five boroughs and Westchester.

Earlier this year, Con Edison awarded $4 million in grants to four non-profit organizations who will provide training over three years for more than 1,200 participants from underserved communities for careers in clean energy and technology fields.