Happy Earth Day! 🌎🌱🌻 Today, people around the world are celebrating efforts to care for our natural resources. We’re bringing Earth Day to Fresno as we share stories of two community members, like you and me, who are working to make our city a healthier place to live. Continue reading to also learn about ways you can be part of this work in your neighborhood!
High Schooler Leads Project Aimed to Improve Fresno’s Air Quality
“[When] I started working in Southwest Fresno with young people, the first thing I noticed was the health hazards to their development,” says Marcel Woodruff, local youth activist. “We would often smell pesticides, see smog from the factories, and get pollution from the freeways,” he continues.
“[When] I started working in Southwest Fresno with young people, the first thing I noticed was the health hazards to their development.”
Marcel Woodruff, local youth activist
In 2018, high schooler Kieshaun White decided he wanted to do something about this.
With Marcel’s support and mentorship, Kieshaun placed an air monitor on Edison High School to determine how much pollution was being circulated in the neighborhood on an average day. Through grant funding and partnership with Fresno Unified School District, Kieshaun worked to place air quality monitors on every school in the District.
“Through this project, [Kieshaun] identified that West Fresno suffered from [significantly higher] levels of pollution as Northeast Fresno,” says Marcel.
Years later, Kieshaun’s project has led to incredible awareness about the environmental disparity in Fresno and efforts to combat it. He brought grant funding to expand air quality monitors throughout the city and developed an app to help community members have real-time information about pollution in their area.
Kieshaun has brought national exposure to Fresno’s environmental issues and has shared his work with Governor Newsom and the California Economic Summit. He even joined former President Obama on stage at a town hall forum in Oakland!
As an adult, Kieshaun continues to speak on behalf of his community in spheres of influence such as State of California Air Resources board meetings. Kieshaun also shared more about his work in a documentary produced by the nonprofit, End Poverty in California.
Watch Kieshan’s feature in their film, “Poverty and Power,” here!
Parent Launches First Garden at Downtown School
Kepler Neighborhood School is in a downtown, urban area surrounded by cement. “Being a part of a downtown school here in Fresno, [there] is a lack of fresh food grocery stores in the area,” says Denise Feil, a parent of three Kepler students.
Fresno community members were ranked the 3rd most food insecure in the United States according to a 2018 report from the Food Research & Action Center. A lack of access to and education about healthy, readily-available food contributes to significant and detrimental health effects such as obesity, diabetes, asthma, and autoimmune disorders.
One day, Denise noticed an empty, 20 by 15-foot area outside of Kepler Neighborhood School’s back doors. After securing some grant funding and using an above-ground gardening model, Denise worked with a team to construct raised garden beds, install drip irrigation, and purchase all needed supplies and materials, including seeds and seedlings for edible plants.
During the 2022-2023 school year, Denise began teaching classes at Kepler for the first time in the garden. Through school gardens, she says “we are helping kids recognize that you can grow your own food, learn about healthy eating, and understand why it’s important.”
“[Through school gardens] we are helping kids recognize that you can grow your own food, learn about healthy eating, and understand why it’s important.”
Denise Feil, Garden Instructor at Kepler Elementary
How Can You Love Our City this Earth Day?
Here are four action steps you can take to get more involved in combatting environmental and health disparities in our city.↓
📍 Learn more about the health of your neighborhood using these resources and maps below!
- Healthy Fresno County Dashboard
- Health Equity Index
- Cradle to Career Dashboard
- Fresno County Health Priority Index
- Healthy Places Index
- Fresno County Health Data
🌱 Want to get involved with school gardens? Contact ENP’s Extended Learning Coordinator, Yang Soua Fang!
📋 Curious how land use decisions about parks, buildings, and streets have an environmental impact on our city? Want to be part of ENP’s Community Land Use Academy? Contact Ivan Paz ENP’s Community Land-Use Academy Project Manager.
🗯️ The City of Fresno is working to create a Climate Adaptation Plan and Environmental Justice Element to prepare Fresno for the anticipated impacts of climate change and fairly distribute environmental benefits. Provide input on the plan HERE!
Both Kieshaun and Denise noticed a need in their community, and began working toward solutions in the schools and neighborhoods closest to them. How can you use your gifts and passions to make your neighborhood a healthier place to live on Earth Day… and tomorrow too?
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