Social vulnerability

Awards small grants in support of grassroots efforts and community-based environmental work in New England. The Grassroots Fund utilizes participatory grantmaking to move resources to New England grassroots groups working at the intersections of Environmental Justice. The program is geared toward groups who have some experience implementing a project in their community. Grants support groups to deepen their work by further developing a community vision, lowering barriers to participation, identifying new stakeholders, and working to bring more voices and lived experiences into core decision-making processes.

Connecticut EJ Screening Tool is an interactive resource that combines both community and data-driven approach that incorporates environmental burdens and demographic indicators. This map allows users to explore the environmental health and the conditions (socioeconomic and or other distinguishing community characteristics) within a specific region, town, city, and or entire state.

The data included in this map finalize into a score that allows users to understand the relationship between the community and environmental justice. Through the presentation of this information, citizens and policymakers alike can understand what communities are experiencing and form policies that reshape these matters.

The Equitable Resilience Builder (ERB) is an application that supports communities in resilience planning with a focus on equity. It engages users in a guided process to inclusively assess local hazards, equity, and the resilience of built, natural, and social environment systems. Results can be used to collaboratively prioritize actions to build community resilience in an equitable way.

Data shows polygon locations of Potential Environmental Justice Areas (PEJA). PEJA’s have been identified based on data from the 2014-2018 5-year American Community Survey (ACS), conducted by the US Census Bureau. Environmental justice efforts focus on improving the environment in communities, specifically minority and low-income communities, and addressing disproportionate adverse environmental impacts that may exist in those communities. The designated areas are considered for additional outreach within the permitting process, for grant eligibility, and for targeted enforcement of Environmental Conservation Law violations.

For more than 30 years, our Long Island Unitarian Universalist Fund (LIUUF), a field-of-interest advised fund at The New York Community Trust, has worked to address education and racial equity, environmental justice, and immigrant rights. The fund also focuses on LGBTQ+ advocacy, women’s rights, leadership development, legal and legislative advocacy, and community organizing. The fund was established by the Veatch Program at Shelter Rock.

LIUUF grantmaking reflects Unitarian Universalist principles and the Fund’s overarching mission is to build and energize a community of progressive social change activists, and to support prophetic voices in vulnerable communities who speak out against injustices—often in unsafe environments and at personal risk and sacrifice.

Guided by an advisory committee that represents Unitarian Universalist congregations throughout Long Island, the LIUUF has awarded millions of dollars to nonprofits in Nassau and Suffolk counties to advance grassroots progressive social change.

The EPOC Grant Program provides non-profit and not-for-profit environmental advocacy groups, community based groups and environmental education organizations funding for local projects that benefit the environment.

The Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development’s (DECD) Office of Brownfield Remediation and Development (OBRD) announced funding availability under Round 18. The purpose of the Municipal Grant Program as per C.G.S Section 32-763, is to provide grants for brownfield remediation and redevelopment. OBRD has also simultaneously announced the availability of funding under the Targeted Brownfield Development Loan and the Assessment-only Grant Program.

The Department’s Urban Green and Community Gardens Grant Program provides funding assistance to develop or enhance urban open spaces for public enjoyment and/or environmental education.

The Community Investment Fund 2030 (CIF) will foster economic development in historically underserved communities across the state. CIF will provide a total of up to $875 million to eligible municipalities as well as not-for-profit organizations and community development corporations that operate within them.

Awards small grants in support of grassroots efforts and community-based environmental work in New England. The Grassroots Fund utilizes participatory grantmaking to move resources to New England grassroots groups working at the intersections of Environmental Justice. The program is geared toward groups who have some experience implementing a project in their community. Grants support groups to deepen their work by further developing a community vision, lowering barriers to participation, identifying new stakeholders, and working to bring more voices and lived experiences into core decision-making processes.

The Community Investment Fund 2030 (CIF) will foster economic development in historically underserved communities across Connecticut. CIF will provide a total of up to $875 million to eligible municipalities as well as not-for-profit organizations and community development corporations that operate within them.

The grant provide technical assistance to businesses (e.g., information, training, expert advice) on source reduction, also known as pollution prevention (P2). Grantees must demonstrate that the project will improve human health and the environment in disadvantaged communities by implementing P2 approaches. P2 approaches can help businesses reduce the use and release of hazardous substances that can harm human health and the environment while also saving money by reducing their resource use, expenditures, waste and liability costs.

The grant provides P2 technical assistance to business to improve human health and the environment in disadvantaged communities by increasing the supply, demand and/or use of safer and more sustainable products, such as those that are certified by EPA’s Safer Choice label, or those that conform to EPA’s Recommendations for Specifications, Standards and Ecolabels for Federal Purchasing.

$45 million in funding is available for projects that will advance the coastal habitat restoration and climate resilience priorities of tribes and underserved communities under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act. Through this funding, NOAA will help support community-driven habitat restoration and build the capacity of tribes and underserved communities to more fully participate in restoration activities.

Sea Grant and the NOAA Climate Program Office, with support from the NOAA Office for Coastal Management, seek to establish programs aimed at placing people across the country into good jobs that advance climate resilience and assisting employers in developing a 21st century workforce that is climate literate, informed by climate resilience, and skilled at addressing consequent challenges. NOAA will assist communities in coastal and Great Lakes states and territories so they may form partnerships that train workers and place them into jobs that enhance climate resilience.

EPA Long Island Sound Study announced a new Environmental Justice (EJ) program focused on the Long Island Sound watershed. The Long Island Sound Community Impact Fund (LISCIF) will direct funds and technical assistance to communities experiencing or affected by adverse and disproportionate environmental and human health risks or harms.

With support from the Nature Conservancy and Sustainable CT, East Haddam organized a Community Resilience Building process and workshop, the results of which were compiled into this summary. The team engaged with community members to determine the present hazards and vulnerabilities and identify resilient solutions.

In cities across America, trees have historically been planted along race and class lines. Ensuring equitable tree cover across every neighborhood can help address social inequities so that all people can thrive. The map shows your city or town’s current Tree Equity Score and how it can be improved. Each score is calculated using a science-based approach and readily available data from a variety of sources.

Coastal Resilience is a Connecticut-based decision support tool that provides local, regional, state and national stakeholders a step-wise process to guide decisions to reduce the ecological and socio-economic risks of coastal and inland hazards.

National Report with State-based County-level data detailing the experiences of communities as a result of climate change. State reports include eight maps that show where major disasters have occurred, where post-disaster support has been given, where the most socially vulnerable populations reside, and the energy reliability by utility area. It also provides county-level disaster data within State Assembly, Senate, and Congressional district boundaries.

Use this mapper to visualize people, infrastructure, and natural resources exposed to coastal flood hazards. You can save and share the online maps to communicate with stakeholders. Tip: watch the short video about the tool before getting started!

This booklet from the EPA and CDC summarizes why extreme heat is on the rise, how it might affect people, and outlines steps to prepare for extreme heat events to reduce health risks.

The CCVI combines built, social, and ecological factors to identify areas that are vulnerable to flooding and heat related impacts of climate change. These mapping tools can be used to view vulnerability at both a regional scale and at specific sites to see how factors are contributing.

This document offers foundational learning opportunities for the emergency management community and beyond. By sharing communication techniques, climate information, data resources, and guidance for connecting with experts, this resource helps advance the integration of climate change considerations into actionable efforts before, during, and after disasters.

EJScreen is an EPA environmental justice mapping and screening tool comprised of a nationally consistent dataset and approach for combining environmental and demographic socioeconomic indicators. EJScreen users choose a geographic area; the tool then provides demographic socioeconomic and environmental information for that area.

These community profiles are intended to be used by municipal officials and planners working to make their communities more economically, environmentally, and socially resilient. Includes datasets related to FEMA disaster and non-disaster funding, flood insurance claims, social vulnerability, and other community stats.

RAPT provides access to important data and analysis tools to support your community before, during and after a disaster.

Neighborhoods at Risk is an easy-to-use website with interactive maps, charts, and resources to help communities identify neighborhoods that may be more impacted by climate change. It shows where people may experience unequal impacts from flooding and extreme heat.

Healthy ecosystems provide a wide range of benefits, from recreational opportunities to storm surge protection. These benefits are often referred to as ecosystem services. Understanding how changes to the ecosystem may affect these benefits should play a role in the community’s decision making process. This page provides a guide to learning more and key NOAA Digital Coast resources useful for this task.

Use this web mapping tool to visualize community-level impacts from coastal flooding or sea level rise (up to 10 feet above average high tides). Photo simulations of how future flooding might impact local landmarks are also provided, as well as data related to water depth, connectivity, flood frequency, socio-economic vulnerability, wetland loss and migration, and mapping confidence.

This mapper, developed through the New York Climate Act, was developed by the State Climate Justice Working Group to identify disadvantaged communities to ensure that frontline and otherwise underserved communities benefit from the state’s historic transition to cleaner, greener sources of energy, reduced pollution and cleaner air, and economic opportunities. The interactive map identifies areas throughout the State that meet the disadvantaged community Criteria as defined by the Climate Justice Working Group.

This policy guide identifies specific ways in which the drafting, public engagement, application, mapping, and enforcement of zoning regulations can be changed to dismantle the barriers that perpetuate the separation of historically disadvantaged and vulnerable communities.

Shows areas vulnerable to near-term flooding from different combinations of sea level rise, storm surge, tides, and tsunamis, or to permanent submersion by long-term sea level rise. Within the U.S., it incorporates the latest, high-resolution, high-accuracy lidar elevation data supplied by NOAA (exceptions: see Sources), displays points of interest, and contains layers displaying social vulnerability, population density, and property value.

The second annual Long Island Sound Bi-State Sustainable and Resilient Communities Workshop brought together nearly 200 people virtually on Dec. 7, 2023 to learn about a new Long Island Sound Resilience Resource Hub (launching in early 2024), hear from communities and groups around the Sound working on resilience planning, and consider pathways for updating codes and ordinances. Videos of the workshop’s six sessions are available on YouTube. They can be accessed below along with supporting documents.