Environmental Justice & Public Health Committee AnnouncementsNational Brownfields Conference Scholarship Opportunities to attend the EPA National Brownfields Conference for Environmental Justice Stakeholders and Leaders from the Goldstein Brownfields FoundationOn behalf of the Florida Brownfields Association Environmental Justice Committee and the Florida Brownfields Association Foundation, I am pleased to provide information on a Scholarship opportunity from The Goldstein Brownfields Foundation for Environmental Justice Stakeholders and Leaders who are Florida Residents working on Community Environmental Justice Issues to attend the National Brownfields Conference to be held August 8-11th, 2023 in Detroit Michigan. More information on the conference is located at https://brownfields2023.org/ . To be considered for the scholarship, please provide the following to The Goldstein Brownfields Foundation at [email protected]:
The scholarship will be provided on a reimbursement basis for the following expenses:
Please submit your information for consideration no later than Friday, July 21, 2023. If you have any questions, please call contact Michael R. Goldstein at [email protected]. The mission of The Goldstein Brownfields Foundation is to exhibit, promote, and support leadership in pollution remediation based land revitalization for purposes of restoring and protecting public health; eradicating contamination driven neighborhood disinvestment; incorporating climate stewardship into redevelopment design; creating and expanding economic opportunity on an equitable basis; empowering communities disproportionately burdened by environmental harms and risks; and increasing the diversity of students, teachers, professionals, and technicians in the global environmental arena. PS- Please distribute this email to others who may be interested. The Florida Brownfields Association Honors Four with Excellence AwardsJune 20, 2023 at the Annual Florida Brownfields Conference in Orlando, the Florida Brownfields Association recognized excellence in brownfields redevelopment and environmental justice with four awards.The Sunrise Award for excellence in redeveloping Florida’s brownfields was presented to the City of Palmetto Community Redevelopment Agency. This award aims to promote, recognize, and celebrate innovative and impactful brownfields redevelopment projects in the state of Florida. Awardees leverage the power of multi-stakeholder partnerships to bring about positive change to brownfield communities, where redevelopment efforts serve as catalysts for social equity, economic growth, and environmental protection. This year, the award recognizes Connor Park. The park includes a 500,000-gallon reservoir to contain the stormwater, and then nature takes over as a variety of plants are utilized to filter the water and “pre-clean” it before it enters the Manatee River. The reservoir itself is now home to aquatic plants such as the American lotus, water shield, cattails, duck potatoes and pickerelweed. These plants, each remarkable unto its own, will provide a natural food source to Palmetto’s bird population - as well as the fish that will reside in the reservoir.
Ed Johnson, City of Palmetto, accepting award for Connor Park with Krystal Hepburn, FBA President The Willa Carson Award for excellence in promoting brownfields-to-healthfields redevelopment was presented to University Area CDC . This award is named in honor of Willa Carson, a retired nurse from St. Petersburg, Florida, who helped redevelop a brownfield site into a not-for-profit clinic that provides culturally sensitive quality healthcare for un-insured and underserved children and families. Awardees contribute to environmental and community health, as Ms. Carson has done, by turning Florida’s brownfields into healthfields. This year, the award recognizes The University Area CDC named the redeveloped brownfield site “Harvest Hope Park” and has constructed a vegetable garden in 33 raised beds on the property. A small building onsite has been redesigned to serve as a model kitchen and is used to teach area residents how to prepare healthy meals using produce from the garden.  Belinda Williams-Collins accepting award for University Area CDC with FBA President Dr. Krystal Hepburn
(photo by Cynthia Peurifoy) The Environmental Justice Spirit of Excellence Award for excellence in supporting environmental justice and health equity was presented to Dr. E. Christian Wells, University of South Florida and Miles Ballogg, Ensafe. This award recognizes an individual, organization, or brownfields redevelopment project that collaborates with communities experiencing environmental justice and public health challenges. Awardees demonstrate a strong commitment to equitable community revitalization and to building sustainable partnerships with stakeholders to aid underserved and under-resourced communities in Florida. Dr. Wells is a Professor of Anthropology and Director of the Center for Brownfields Research & Redevelopment at the University of South Florida. He is an applied environmental anthropologist with an interdisciplinary background in the social and natural sciences. He maintains a diverse portfolio of research projects aimed at improving human and environmental health outcomes of re/development efforts in underserved communities. Miles Ballogg is a strong advocate for Environmental Justice and has been recognized as a National Leader of the "Healthfields Movement" by utilizing Brownfields and other leveraged resources to improve access to health and health care for underserved communities to reduce health disparities. Miles received the Martin Luther King, Jr. Brotherhood Award for his project support of the Willa Carson Community Health Resource Center in Clearwater.
 Miles Ballogg & Dr. Christian Wells
(photo by Cynthia Peurifoy)  From left to right: Dr. Krystal Hepburn, Travis Hearne, Miles Ballogg, Ed Johnson, Dr. E. Christian Wells, Belinda Williams-Collins, Frank Hearne (sponsor of awards) and Dan Nedvidek
Environmental Justice Film Festival
Lake Apopka (Orange County) Tallevast (Manatee County) Environmental Justice from the Ground(water) Up (10:58) East Tampa (Hillsborough County) Environmental Justice in East Tampa (10:54) University Area Community (Hillsborough County) Hundreds of Tampa Residents Possibly Exposed to Contaminated Water (2:29) DeLand (Volusia County) North Port St. Joe (Gulf County) North Port St. Joe: An LID Approach to Securing Basic Infrastructure before Redevelopment (5:48) Childs Park (Pinellas County) The Right to Clean Air, Part 2 (5:46) The Right to Clean Air, Part 3 (7:03)
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The Florida Brownfields Association Honors Three with Excellence Awards
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