HHS Announces Phase 2 Winners in Environmental Justice Community Innovator Challenge

Challenge aims to uplift community-level solutions to address health inequities and environmental justice

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has awarded prizes to 10 winners in the second and final phase of the Environmental Justice Community Innovator Challenge (Challenge) that awarded $1 million in prizes over two phases. HHS created this national prize competition to uplift community voices with innovative solutions addressing the adverse health impacts of environmental conditions within local, disproportionately impacted communities.

One year since the Challenge’s launch during Climate Week 2023, HHS is proud to invest in community-level solutions to address health inequities during Climate Week 2024. This challenge advances the Biden-Harris Administration’s belief that every person has a right to breathe clean air, drink clean water, and live in a healthy community.

“Communities across the nation are innovating to address health disparities that are created or worsened by pollution and the climate crisis," said HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra. "Congratulations to these Challenge winners, who have dedicated themselves to making their communities healthier and safer. The Biden-Harris Administration’s historic environmental justice agenda promotes community-led solutions because we know they are critical to creating a better future all.”

For years, studies have demonstrated that low-income communities, communities of color, Tribal nations, and other vulnerable populations, like children, are disproportionately burdened by environmental and climate change-related hazards. These populations are more likely to be exposed to unhealthy land uses, poor air and water quality, dilapidated housing, lead exposure, and are more impacted by extreme weather and natural disasters caused by climate change and other environmental threats that drive health disparities.

Through the Challenge, HHS has supported the development of community-driven strategies and tools, including those related to climate change and the cumulative impacts of environmental and other stressors. Across both phases of the Challenge, over 20 communities have been engaged in efforts to advance health equity and address environmental hazards to human health.

“The community and Tribal voices highlighted over the course of this year have been one of the most important outcomes of the Challenge. I am excited to hear the impact from these partners and their projects in the years to come as we work to build a healthier, more equitable future for all,” said HHS Assistant Secretary for Health Admiral Rachel Levine.

In Phase 2 of the Challenge, solvers focused on small-scale testing or implementation of community-led efforts to mitigate environmental health disparities and advance health equity.

“Investment in community-driven projects is essential to addressing environmental and climate change hazards in racial and ethnic minority, Tribal, and other disadvantaged communities,” said Rear Admiral Felicia Collins, M.D., M.P.H., Deputy Assistant Secretary for Minority Health and HHS Office of Minority Health Director. “I congratulate the Phase 2 Challenge winners for their dedication to testing and implementing solutions intended to ultimately improve health within their communities.”

“This Challenge has allowed us to hear from communities across the country about solutions to many of the health-related climate and environmental impacts they are experiencing. I look forward to continuing to model this collaboration in the future,” said Dr. Sharunda Buchanan, Ph.D., Interim Director of the HHS Office of Environmental Justice.

In alignment with the President Biden’s Executive Order 14096, Revitalizing Our Nation’s Commitment to Environmental Justice for All, the Challenge supports community-driven projects designed to address environmental justice and public health issues in areas adversely affected by environmental pollution and hazards. The Challenge is also in alignment with the goals of the President’s Justice40 Initiative, which sets a goal that 40 percent of the overall benefits of certain federal investments flow to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution..

In Phase 1 of the Challenge, solvers designed innovative concepts to mitigate environmental health disparities or developed effective approaches to support innovative concepts already being explored. For information on the 12 Phase 1 winners, please click here . To learn more about environmental justice at HHS, please visit here and HHS’ Phase Two of the Environmental Justice Scorecard.

Phase 2 winners include:

Clearya, Inc. – California
Title: Data-Driven Solutions Powering the Fight Against Unjust Exposure to Toxic Chemicals
Program: Clearya’s goal is to reduce the toxic chemical exposures in manufacturing processes that are associated with disease and death among frontline workers and fenceline communities. Clearya’s approach is to use technology to address the most central of these: the lack of accurate and accessible information that takes power away from workers, and profit-driven actions by private-sector players.

Community Health Aligning Revitalization Resilience & Sustainability (CHARRS) and West Atlanta Watershed Alliance (WAWA) – Georgia
Title: Actively Building Community Resilience Through Understanding and Collaboration
Program: This project brings an intentional, holistic, and collaborative community engagement approach that is slowed to the speed of the community by taking the time to explain the connection between what is happening in their environments, how it impacts community members personally and collectively, understanding the systems associated with the environmental health impacts, and the roles and responsibilities of stakeholders.

Dade County Street Response – Florida
Title: New Innovations in Healthcare: Dade County Street Response as a Global Model for Place-Based Care
Program: This project expounds upon a previously developed approach that uses a global model to provide direct care to communities disproportionately impacted by hazards related to climate change, by training medical professionals in how to support community efforts in organizing activities and to provide education on climate change, and public health, and training medical professional on how to rapidly triage patients to the appropriate inpatient services or emergency relief resources during a climate related event.

DataHaven – Connecticut
Title: Empowering Action in Communities through Small Area Estimation of Health and Well-being Outcomes
Program: DataHaven has developed and tested a set of multilevel regression and post-stratification (MRP) models and local estimates based on the DataHaven Community Wellbeing Survey (DCWS). DCWS describes community health and well-being issues that are critical to environmental justice innovation, including walkability, bicycling infrastructure, access to and quality of public parks, the local food environment, housing and economic stress, public safety, social cohesion, discrimination, access to care, and health outcomes such as diabetes and asthma. Through this project, community members will learn about the MRP methodology and its application in producing small area estimates.

Televeda – New York
Title: Indigenous Veterans Talking Circle Garden
Program: With the support of the Navajo Nation, this project seeks to demonstrate the implementation of the use of therapeutic gardens to address mental health in eligible Veterans. In addition to its therapeutic benefits, this project will embed culturally-competent resources that will build and foster trust; provide access to fresh produce, herbs and medicinal plants; and serve as a platform for education and outreach.

New York City H2O, Inc. – New York
Title: STEW Crew: Mobilizing Youth Stewardship and Technology for Cleaner and Greener Streets
Program: NYC H2O developed STEW (“stewardship”) Crew, an environmental justice K-12 program that integrates litter removal, environmental stewardship and data collection using geographic information systems (GIS) to identify local environmental problems and plan effective solutions. STEW Crew addresses environmental disparities using a bottom-up approach, by mobilizing youth in disadvantaged communities.

Orange County Environmental Justice (OCEJ) and University of California Irvine (UCI) – California
Title: Community-Led Bioremediation: A Pilot Study in Santa Ana, California
Program: To address the lead crisis in Santa Ana, California, OCEJ is developing a program to train community members in the science and practice of bioremediation. The goals are to decrease soil-lead contamination in Santa Ana neighborhoods using practical, cost-effective bioremediation techniques performed by community members; to create a sustainable, community-driven program to continuously address the soil-lead crisis and health disparities by teaching Santa Ana residents to perform bioremediation techniques beyond the pilot site; and to increase city-wide engagement between the Santa Ana residents and this community science project by publicly communicating bioremediation treatment outcomes.

Quiet Communities, Inc. – Massachusetts
Title: Healthier Public School Environments through Transitions to Electric Maintenance Equipment
Program: This project has been working to address an overlooked contributor to community noise and air pollution: fossil fuel powered landscape and maintenance equipment. This project will implement and expand the AGZA Certified Green Zone program. This is a multi-level program that facilitates organizations and communities in making an enduring transition to a battery electric platform.

Urban Harvest STL (UHSTL) – Missouri
Title: Grow Food, Grow Community, Grow Growers
Program: Urban Harvest STL (UHSTL), developed as a downtown community garden, has evolved into an organization committed to supporting an equitable, resilient local food system. This project focuses on a previously designed multifaceted approach to addressing St. Louis’ public health issues disproportionately impacting communities to increase access to healthy food, provide urban farming training, and environmental justice education.

The Yonus Davis Foundation – California
Title: Teens Go Green
Program: This project uses a nature-based, eco-awareness, trauma-informed peer support group model to promote community safety and improve mental health outcomes for at-risk and systems-impacted youth.