WORCESTER – The Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) announced $100,000 in grants to four organizations, including the Worceser-Based Southeast Asian Coalition of Central Massachusetts, Inc., on Thursday.
Each of the four organizations receives $25,000 during the first half of this year to implement interventions aimed at reducing harmful environmental exposures and potential health impacts in communities disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Southeast Asian Coalition of Central Massachusetts will use the funds to increase awareness of environmental and public health issues that affect Southeast Asian and other immigrant, refugee, and asylee communities through the Environmental and Public Health Education program.
The funds are part of a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) grant awarded to DPH’s Bureau of Environmental Health to build on efforts to detect, prevent, and control environmental hazards through investing in evidence-based decision-making tools, workforce training, and community outreach. DPH will provide technical assistance and collect feedback to better address environmental and climate justice issues across Massachusetts through the development of analytical tools, resources, and collaborative networks.
The other three grantees are:
- La Colaborativa (Chelsea)
- Everett Community Growers (Everett)
- Public Health Institute of Western Massachusetts (Springfield )
“This award underscores our ongoing efforts to prioritize and address disparities in social determinants of health, which include environmental health,” said Public Health Commissioner Margret Cooke. “These four projects will provide us with valuable insight into how community-level interventions may be leveraged to build environmental health capacity across the state.”