The Spanish American Civic Association will promote environmental awareness and neighborhood cleanups in southeast Lancaster through a $50,000 grant from the Department of Environmental Protection.
SACA is one of 12 inaugural recipients of funding from DEP’s Engaging New Voices on Environmental Justice program, which aims to support environmental initiatives in historically marginalized and underserved communities. Each organization received $50,000, for a total disbursement of $600,000.
Grant recipients
- Allegheny County: Casa San Jose, Project Matters (Both in Pittsburgh)
- Crawford County: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarship Fund (Meadville)
- Dauphin County: Ngozi (Harrisburg)
- Erie County: Urban Erie Community Development Corp. (Erie)
- Lancaster County: Spanish American Civic Association (Lancaster)
- Lehigh County: Unidos Foundation (Allentown)
- Philadelphia: Alianza Latina, Hunting Park Green
- Regional
- Shamokin Creek Restoration Alliance (Northcentral PA)
- Northeastern Pa. Pan African Coalition (Northeastern & Northcentral PA)
- Pennsylvania Immigration and Citizenship Coalition (Statewide)
“We are excited about the Environmental Justice Grant, which will allow us to engage deeper with residents in Southeast Lancaster on critical issues such as environmental justice, littering, illegal dumping, native habitats, and ground contamination,” said Jack Howell, director of SACA’s Elm Street Program, a neighborhood revitalization initiative.
Part of the grant will go toward a task force to prevent illegal trash dumping, DEP said. SACA will also host three DEP presentations on environmental justice, which will be promoted on WLCH-FM Radio Centro and through other outreach efforts, Howell said.
“Environmental Justice is a core part of DEP’s mission, and this program will not just help these organizations but also the people in the communities they support,” DEP Acting Secretary Jessica Shirley said in a statement.
This is DEP’s first grant focused solely on promoting community engagement. It is funded with federal dollars through a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency government-to-government grant.
