Special to the Record
With record breaking summer heat and extreme storms, the intensifying severity of climate change is negatively affecting public health, especially for vulnerable residents in aging housing stock. La Colaborativa recently announced that it has secured a $50,000 grant from the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC) Empower Massachusetts Program (EmPower) to launch the Healthy Living in Chelsea Initiative, in partnership with the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC). With grant funds, La Colaborativa will design and pilot an innovative housing initiative to support low- and moderate-income residents with underlying health conditions that are magnified by our changing climate.
“With mounting displacement pressures, La Colaborativa is committed to fostering healthy, livable neighborhoods, where all residents can flourish,” said Gladys Vega, La Colaborativa President. “We’re grateful to the Healey-Driscoll Administration and MassCEC for this significant investment.”
Dinanyili Paulino, La Colaborativa Executive Vice President said housing is a key anchor of the community’s health, wellbeing, and stability
“We’re thrilled to deepen our partnership with MassCEC to realize a future of health equity and clean energy for our community,” Paulino said.
Decades of environmental injustice have excluded Latinx and immigrant communities from affordable, resilient housing. Recognizing these structural barriers, La Colaborativa is embarking on the Healthy Living in Chelsea Initiative to lessen utility costs, reduce emissions, and alleviate substandard housing conditions linked to health and wellbeing.
“Over recent years, less than a third of energy efficiency projects benefitted low- and moderate-income EJ communities, leaving thousands of residents behind,” stated Alex Train, AICP, Chief Operating Officer of La Colaborativa. “The Healthy Living in Chelsea Initiative will directly uplift residents that have borne the brunt of climate impacts and air pollution.”
Through robust neighborhood outreach, La Colaborativa will collaborate with low-income residents experiencing chronic respiratory disease on healthy homes retrofits. Centered on energy efficiency measures, electrification, and indoor air quality improvements, the projects will be purposefully crafted, in collaboration with healthcare partners.
“La Colaborativa’s Healthy Living in Chelsea Initiative is a powerful example of how clean energy solutions can directly address both climate and public health challenges,” said Lisa Dobbs, Senior Program Manager at the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center. “By improving energy efficiency and air quality in homes, this initiative will tackle the critical health challenges that vulnerable residents face and accelerate the clean energy transformation in Chelsea. This will ensure that communities most affected by environmental and health inequities are empowered and supported as we strive to make Massachusetts homes and buildings healthier and safer for all.”
Following an initial housing inspection, La Colaborativa’s Health Equity Department will work with residents to oversee health home retrofits that electrify heating and cooling systems, install energy efficient appliances, and mitigate sources of indoor air pollution, such as mold and radon, which heighten respiratory health risks. As projects are underway, residents enrolled in La Colaborativa’s Clean Energy Workforce Training Program will assist participating residents with physical enhancements, in conjunction with program contractors.
La Colaborativa’s staff will engage closely with property owners to facilitate projects, as property owner consent remains a persistent barrier to addressing energy efficiency issues. Once retrofit opportunities are identified, La Colaborativa will purposefully harness existing energy efficiency programs — resources that are often inaccessible, due to language, technology, and economic barriers — to finance projects. With MassCEC support, La Colaborativa will leverage flexible project funding to defray ineligible costs, such as mold abatement and the installation of HEPA filters, as well as provide incentives to encourage participation and prevent unreasonable rent increases following the completion of projects.
Accounting for over 35% of emissions in 2023, buildings are a key contributor of air pollution. With over 75% of housing units constructed before 1979, Chelsea is witnessing the convergence of deteriorating housing conditions, poor air quality, rising rent and utilities, and inaccessible energy efficiency resources.
In tandem, La Colaborativa will undertake a citywide campaign to enhance access to critical utility assistance, energy efficiency, and housing stability resources. This will include on-the-ground neighborhood canvassing, resource workshops, and community education to increase awareness. Additionally, the outreach campaign will connect residents to energy assistance, such as utility discount programs, and counter deceptive, third party energy suppliers that target immigrant communities.