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Newark, NJ – March 27, 2023 Partner organizations South Ward Environmental Alliance and Clinton Hill Community Action, both of Newark, were honored as the recipients of a NJ Building Our Resilient, Inclusive, and Diverse Green Economy (NJ BRIDGE) grant award at a New Jersey Council on the Green Economy event on Monday, March 27th. The award provides $1.3. million, over two years, and will fund a pilot program focused on building a diverse, inclusive green workforce in the South Ward of Newark.
The NJ BRIDGE grant was announced by NJ First Lady, Tammy Murphy, who participated in a roundtable on “Building New Jersey’s Inclusive Green Workforce” with panelists including, Kim Gaddy, Founder and Executive Director of the South Ward Environmental Alliance; NJ Council on the Green Economy Executive Director, Jane Cohen; and representatives of other awarded organizations.
“This project represents a true partnership between the South Ward Environmental Alliance (SWEA) and our community development organization,” observed Khaatim Sherrer El, Executive Director of Clinton Hill Community Action (CHCA). “The work follows Kim’s vision to grow the next generation of environmental justice advocates and to diversify the green jobs sector.”
In creating a Green Jobs Hub, SWEA will partner with CHCA to recruit 120 South Ward residents and provide wrap-around support for a 16-week job training program that starts with participation in SWEA’s Green Alliance Leadership Academy (GALA). GALA is a work-ready program designed to help traditionally underrepresented populations explore careers in environmental justice and connect them with certification-bearing job training programs in areas including green infrastructure (water management that protects, restores, or mimics the natural water cycle) and energy efficiency. SWEA will identify prospective employers, and the two groups will then work together to match participants with employment and additional specialized training opportunities.
Timisha Woods, a South Ward resident, and certified Newark's Green Infrastructure Installer participated in the City of Newark, Green Works program. "Newark’s Green Infrastructure Program has not only created more awareness of the environmental issues we face here in Newark and cities like ours but has also trained us to be part of the solution. I am prepared to manage GI projects in the South Ward, City of Newark, and throughout the State of New Jersey, stated Timisha Woods."
“The green economy and jobs in the green workforce—like Green Infrastructure Installer or Solar Installer—have not been careers discussed in schools or around the kitchen table in African-American and Latino communities. GALA will give participants the background, language, and confidence to pursue careers in the field,” explains Ms. Gaddy. “GALA will empower participants as leaders who turn their years of living through environmental degradation into opportunities to effect positive changes in their communities and the State.”
“The project will create a sustainable workforce development ecosystem for green jobs in Newark’s South Ward. This Green Jobs Hub will integrate strategies to address barriers to employment and foster strategic partnerships to help participants secure living wage jobs with upward mobility in the green economy,” concluded, Gaddy.
“Clinton Hill Community Action has been committed to environmental justice since its inception. “We are grateful that our strategic partner, South Ward Environmental Alliance, helped us connect the dots between housing and environmental justice from the beginning. We have worked together to empower residents to address in-home lead and asthma hazards, and made environmental justice a priority focus in our Neighborhood Plan. In the Fall, we will launch a tree planting and sidewalk repair project to grow our tree canopy as one of the priorities for our neighborhood identified by residents,” continued, Mr. Sherrer El.
Newark’s South Ward is an area that, like many low-income urban areas, suffers disproportionately from pollution. In its case, this is a result of proximity to incinerators, the Port of Newark and its truck traffic, Newark Liberty International Airport, and the highways that crisscross the South Ward.
South Ward Environmental Alliance is an alliance of residents and community-based organizations focusing on the cumulative impacts of pollution impacting the three neighborhoods of the South Ward. SWEA’s mission is to cultivate healthy and vibrant neighborhoods by ensuring residents’ voices are heard, and they are active participants in decision-making policies that impact their neighborhoods. SWEA has three core programs: Air Quality Monitoring, Water Equity, and the Green Alliance Leadership Academy.
Clinton Hill Community Action was founded in 2019 as a non-profit community development organization that aims to revitalize the Clinton Hill neighborhood in Newark’s South Ward. Priority areas include housing and environmental justice; food and economic justice; citizen journalism and advocacy; and community building. Nearly 95% of CHCA’s employees live in the South Ward. In 2021, CHCA completed a comprehensive redevelopment plan for the Clinton Hill neighborhood contributed to by more than 300 residents and 25 community organizations.
Governor Phil Murphy’s Office of Climate Action and the Green Economy (OCAGE), in collaboration with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP), are the agencies overseeing the NJ BRIDGE initiative—a program to fund scalable projects to support residents entering the green workforce or climbing the green career ladder, with a focus on engagement in overburdened communities.
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