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April 2023 Newsletter

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SWEA News & Updates

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Message from

Our Founder & Executive Director

Welcome Spring!

Greetings South Ward Family,

April is the month we celebrate Earth Day. The theme, "Invest in Our Planet" is the opportunity for everyone to invest in activities to improve our environment. We only have one planet to live and raise our families, so we must protect Mother Earth for the future generations. This is your opportunity to increase awareness about the air you breathe, the water you drink and the food you eat. Encourage your neighbors to participate in a community clean up, plant a tree, visit a park, recycle, reduce and reuse items.

The actions we take can save our planet, our health and community.

Join us on April 22nd for our 2nd Annual Environmental Summit, 10am-2 pm, breakfast starts at 930am.

Mighty South Ward, our health and life matters!

Join Us at the table for Environmental Justice, your seat is waiting for you.


In Solidarity,

Kim Gaddy, Executive Director

Upcoming Events:

  • Administrative Public Hearing for Sims Metal Newark (virtual)theinformation session will be held on April 13th 6:00pm - 8:00pm For instructions on how to register for and join the session, please contact Sims by email at SMMNA.Permits@simsmm.com Facilities subject to the Environmental Justice Law and the Administrative Order 2021-25 must facilitate meaningful opportunities for overburdened communities to engage in permitting decisions for pollution-generating facilities through an enhanced public participation process.
  • Tuesday, April 18th, 12:00-1:30pm PST. Join The International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT)  to learn more on the policies, strategies and funding opportunities to decarbonize ships and ports, as well as the public health and air quality benefits of port electrification and the tools that can be used to quantify these benefits. Registration link here.
  • Join us on April 22nd for the South Ward Environmental Alliance’s 2nd annual Environmental Summit. Register with the link here. Full agenda and more summit information here on our website. 
  • SWEA Monthly Meeting via Zoom on April 26th at 6pm Monthly Meeting Zoom Link
  • Join us for SWEA’s Annual air quality monitoring and truck count to collect data on emissions in the South Ward on April 26th and 27th. Registration link here.
  • Join SWEA and CHCA on Saturday, April 29th, 11AM-1PM to discuss Hurricane Ida Recovery Programs and the $228 million in Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to fund the recovery programs. See flyer above, and visit online for more information or to apply for storm recovery programs.


Apply to join NJ's Environmental Justice Advisory Council!

DEP is seeking applications from interested individuals to be considered for appointment to the Environmental Justice Advisory Council (EJAC).

There are seven (7) vacancies for three-year terms from 2023 through 2026 in the following sectors: 

  • Local grassroots or community groups (1 vacancy)
  • Statewide environmental justice or environmental advocacy organizations (1 vacancy)
  • Statewide social justice/civil rights or labor organization (1 vacancy)
  • County or municipal government or planning professional (1 vacancy)
  • Academia (2 vacancies)
  • Business and Industry (1 vacancy)

Applications must be submitted by 5:00 pm on April 21, 2023 in order to be considered.

Two South Ward Organizations Team Up to Train Residents for the emerging Green Jobs Economy

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.  



Moving Forward Network (MFN) Delegates Convene in D.C.

The Moving Forward Network, a national network of over 50 member organizations representing over two million people from across this nation convened in Washington, DC on March 13-16, 2023 to meet with the Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Reagan to address the issue of Zero Emissions within the freight transportation industry. Asada Rashidi, Environmental Justice Organizer was a presenter. In addition, delegation groups met with their Senate and Congressional Legislative staff to seek support for the administration’s policy to regulate mandates to eliminate diesel fuel emissions from freight vehicles that are affecting the health of our overburdened communities.

The South Ward Environmental Alliance, a member of this network, was well represented and spoke on how this issue and other pollutants are devastating the South Ward neighborhoods. Kim Gaddy, SWEA Executive Director and a MFN Advisory Board Member representing the New York/New Jersey region led the NJ delegation and introduced our next generation of environmental justice leaders from our community to the legislative side of advocacy.


Zero Emission in Freight: Specific Demands From MFN to EPA

1. MFN is calling for EPA to have 100% zero emission across the freight sector by 2035 at the latest.

2. MFN is demanding the retirement of all combustion trucks, trains and ships on or before 2045.

3. Freight impacts are not limited to modes of transportation and therefore the EPA must immediately begin to move an indirect source rule and review process for warehouses, railyards and ports.

4. EPA must support state and local actions to address freight pollution, EPA should immediately be accounting for and issuing guidance on State Implementation Plans. Ensure that all states are submitting state implementation plans and meeting air quality standards. As well as require States to report the emissions from freight facilities and devise and advocate for control measures and solutions to address the problem.

5. Funding of public money regarding transportation must go to zero-emission solutions and technology. This funding should prioritize environmental justice communities who are most impacted. Funding programs must be coupled with regulatory requirements that will target mandatory emission reductions for EJ communities.


Climate Action Campaign & National Public Health Lobby Week in Washington D.C.


South Ward Environmental Alliance (SWEA) and Parents Engaging Parents (PEP) were invited by Friends of the Earth (FOE) to join the Climate Action Campaign & National Public Health Lobby Week in Washington D.C. during March 21st through March 23rd, 2023. Day one consisted of messaging training and meeting preparation. Day two and three were scheduled meetings on Capitol Hill. Asada Rashidi, Atlorice Frazier, Erica Beverett, Brehal West and Terrance Bankston from SWEA, PEP, and FOE met with the staff of New Jersey Representatives, Congressman Payne, Congressman Kim, Congresswoman Coleman and Congresswoman Sherill, as well as Senator Booker and Senator Menedez. During the meetings on Capitol Hill, members from SWEA, PEP, and FOE expressed how soot pollution and the EPA's 24-hour rule affects their prospective communities in New Jersey, such as Newark and East Orange. The specific requests were to ask the Congressional representatives and Senators to sign the Soot Dear Colleague letter, to oppose the Congressional Review Act (CRAs) including the Heavy-Duty Truck rollback, and how constituents can continue to strategize to engage the members on regulatory issues. By the end of the last day, news was received that all the representatives that SWEA, PEP, and FOE spoke with,  signed on to the Dear Colleague Soot letter, which was a major victory. Individuals and organizations must continue to advocate and fight for their rights in order for change to occur. Thank you, Friends of the Earth, for inviting South Ward Environmental Alliance and we look forward to our continued partnership and collaboration.

SWEA Senior Advisory Board Member Highlight:

Bernice Johnson

The South Ward Environmental Alliance is happy to welcome Ms. Bernice Johnson to our Senior Advisory Board representing the Dayton Street community. This is a frontline community that is greatly impacted by the pollution of being in the proximity of the airport, seaport, railway, highways and commercial warehouse industrial zone. The crippling air quality in that community has rested heavily on the respiratory issues in her community. The Johnson Family has played a significant role in the development and stabilization of that community for years. She was born and raised in Newark, NJ and proud to have raised her family here as well. She graduated from Weequahic High School. Ms. Johnson retired from the Newark Public Schools as a teacher’s assistant in special education. Still a very active and visible pillar in the community, she participates in many senior events and affairs, always impeccable in dress and style, and is known for her wonderful sense of humor. Ms. Bernice, also affectionately known, alway adorns

the most elegant hats when she attends her church services on Sundays.

Ms. Johnson said that her greatest concern for her community is the increase in crime and the air quality where many children in her community are born with asthma and suffer from respiratory illnesses. She sees her role as an Advisory Board Member to this organization to educate her community on environmental issues and have a greater level of input.


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