Redlands climate-focused group increases community outreach
By Greg Archer | Contributing Columnist
Redlands Accelerate Neighborhood Climate Action, or Redlands ANCA, wants to help build climate-resilient communities, one neighborhood at a time. Thanks to a recent grant from Inland Empire Community Foundation through the League of California Community Foundations Wildfire Resilience Fund, the all-volunteer organization is making huge strides on that front.
“The timing of the grant was fantastic because as an organization, we had been talking for some time about working with our most vulnerable communities and building climate resilience,” said Linda Hamilton, executive director of the Redlands group. “We were able to hire Bryan Miranda, a former fellow of The California Climate Action Corps, who helped create a program that provided information on, among other things, the dangers of wildfire smoke.”
More than 1,600 households received small packets of information and N95 masks, while several other households received air purifiers.
“The grant really allowed us to embark on this mass outreach to everyone,” Hamilton said. “It’s interesting what we found out because a lot of people are very concerned about air quality, not just from wildfires but generally speaking.”
The organization has grown considerably since its inception several years ago.
Concerned about the ever-accelerating climate change and the huge impact local communities experience, the nonprofit was founded in 2022 as a chapter of a broader, national ANCA organization based in Denver. Helping communities prepare for severe climate impacts is key.
ANCA also used several big events as a way to survey more people in the area. One outing was the city’s holiday block party on the north side.
“We reached more than a 100 people there,” Hamilton said. “The surveys we used were pretty in-depth in terms of how people were experiencing the various impacts of climate change, including the poor air quality from wildfires. And so, now, we have a real understanding of what people are most concerned about.”
Another thing that came from these efforts is the group, Northside Alliance, which Hamilton describes as organizations and individuals who love on the city’s north side who are concerned about the future and well-being of the community.
“We’re thrilled that we have this strong group, right off the bat, to work with and a really great strategy for moving forward with new resources,” Hamilton said. “We’re going to start with planting trees there to increase the tree canopy in terms of dealing with heat and air quality.”
On the horizon will be more focus groups and building even greater trust in more disadvantaged communities. Those interested in volunteer opportunities and a list of the organization’s monthly gatherings can visit the nonprofit’s website.
In the meantime, Hamilton points out the benefits of outreach.
“I remember we were out talking to people and we had told them that we really wanted to help build more climate resilience,” she said. “So, we asked them what they thought we should be doing. And one woman said, ‘Keep doing just what you’re doing. Get us information because we need it.’”
“That really gave us some insight into how to move forward,” she said.
Learn more at redlands-anca.hub.arcgis.com.
Inland Empire Community Foundation works to strengthen Inland Southern California through philanthropy. Visit iegives.org for more information.
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