This grant will support a community-based initiative to raise awareness about air pollution and improve air quality at community hubs.
(Boston, MA; February 11, 2021) Today, the City of Boston announced the recipient of the Community Clean Air Grant program to support community-based projects to address air pollution. This grant program is a part of Boston’s equitable and sustainable recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. The funding gives Boston residents and organizations the resources and tools to carry out community-driven projects that reduce emissions and bring short-term benefits to our neighborhoods.
The second round of the Community Clean Air Grant has awarded $50,000 to Neighborhood of Affordable Housing (NOAH). The project will deploy up to 40 air quality sensors and high efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters at local businesses and community hubs, as well as qualifying households, in East Boston. The project will also use plants to raise awareness of the project and to help educate the community about the relative impact of plants and HEPA filters on indoor air quality.
“With the funding from the City of Boston’s Community Clean Air grant, “B-Eastie Air conditions” will measure air quality for families, schools, and frequented businesses in East Boston, and deploy HEPA air filters to clean their air. Our project will focus on both residents with asthma and racially diverse socio-economically stressed residents,” said Phil Giffee, Executive Director of NOAH, the Neighborhood of Affordable Housing. “We’re grateful to the City of Boston and Air Pollution Control Commission for supporting us to improve air quality plans, while educating residents and stakeholders on the impact of air quality and taking action in our day-to- day lives.”
In the first round of grant funding, the Environment Department awarded funding to two projects led by Mothers Out Front (MOF) East Boston and the Home Energy Efficiency Team (HEET). MOF East Boston received funding to deploy air quality sensors and HEPA air filters in East Boston home daycares. HEET received funding to test induction cooktops for residents who both have asthma and use a gas stove, eliminating a source of harmful indoor air pollution and testing a scalable solution.
“We are super excited to embark on the is ground breaking project that we call B-Eastie Air Conditions. We already have a waiting list for residents who want to receive the Hepa Filter and Sensor reading,” Latifa Turner Ziyad, Resilency Planning Coordinator at NOAH told EastBoston.com.”After being rejected in the first round, NOAH spoke with the City to fine tune the project and quickly reorganized its application for the second round. In the second round, five organizations responded to the RFP but NOAH was the only recipient to be awarded the grant in the City of Boston. So it’s already a story of resilience and fresh air.”
Applications are due for the third round of funding for the Community Clean Air Grants by Friday, February 25, at 5:00 p.m. Interested parties may sign up for office hours to receive technical assistance. Applications may be submitted in English, Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, Haitian Creole or Cape Verdean Creole. Applications are available at boston.gov/clean-air-grant
Compiled by EastBoston.com from CityofBoston.gov and own sources.
