Special to the Record
Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell recently announced the distribution of $475,000 to 12 organizations across the Commonwealth to aid in addressing economic, environmental, and health-related burdens.
Included in that funding round were Chelsea-based GreenRoots and Eastie Farm Regional Community Supported Agriculture in East Boston.
The funding represents the first round of disbursements from the Environmental Justice Fund, established last year in the Commonwealth’s FY2025 budget, to support community-based projects that address environmental harms in disadvantaged communities and funded through civil penalties obtained in judgments and settlements in the Attorney General’s Office (AGO)’s Environmental Protection Division.
“This funding marks a major milestone for communities around our Commonwealth that have waited far too long for meaningful investment,” said Campbell. “When I proposed the Environmental Justice Fund, along with Representative Fluker-Reid and Senator Gomez, I did so with the conviction that every neighborhood deserves clean air, safe water, and a healthy environment. These funds, which we procured by holding polluters accountable, will help repair historic harms and ensure that these resources flow directly to the communities most in need of our support.”
GreenRoots received $25,000 for the Cool Community in Hot EJ Neighborhoods program.
The program has the goal of advancing climate justice in the frontline community of Chelsea, particularly along the Mill Creek waterfront, GreenRoots will use the funding to support community engagement in waterfront and ecological restoration efforts, the construction of a new permanent open space, and the development of a tree keeper stewardship program to increase Chelsea’s tree canopy.
“We are so grateful for the support and partnership of Attorney General Andrea Campbell and her office who have been steadfastly working to ensure environmental justice populations are treated fairly and equitably, particularly in righting the environmental ills of decades of toxic pollution,” said said Roseann Bongiovanni, Executive Director of GreenRoots. “These communities, like Chelsea, have faced disproportionate exposures to toxic pollution for decades which has resulted in poor health outcomes, premature death and more. We’re thrilled that Attorney General Campbell is ensuring pollution violation funds are being invested in EJ communities,”
State Senator Sal DiDomenico said that environmental justice is one of his top priorities, and that he was excited to see Campbell award critical funding to organizations fighting environmental health disparities in his district.
“Thanks to this investment, GreenRoots, Green Cambridge, and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health will be able to promote climate resilience, increase community engagement in restoration efforts, and improve environmental risk identification tools across the state,” stated DiDomenico.
Through the establishment of a regional CSA program, Eastie Farm plans to use the $25,000 it received to increase the access of fresh and affordable produce in East Boston, a federally recognized food desert. With this funding, Eastie Farm intends to connect two in-need groups by benefiting food insecure residents of East Boston with free and subsidized CSA shares and patronizing small, struggling farmers.
This project is in direct alignment with the New England Food Vision, which calls for the building of a local food system for health, economic, and climate resilience.
“We appreciate the Office of the Attorney General working with community-based organizations toward developing food procurement strategies that address economic and health needs of today while prioritizing environmental goals,” said Kannan Thiruvengadam, Executive Director and Alex Graora, Development Manager of Eastie Farm.