In first funding round, county among earliest in U.S. to receive money for new ‘resilience hubs.’
Lane County’s grant application was among 21 applicants awarded over $19 million in environmental and climate justice funding, The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced in July.
“We feel pretty honored to be in the first cohort. We saw this coming. We were focused on the grant opportunity when … we watched the bill itself go through Congress,” said Stephen Adams, Lane County policy director. In total, the funding amounted to $19,555,386.
In August 2022, the Inflation Reduction Act — the largest investment in clean energy and climate response in history — was signed into legislation, recognizing the significance of investing in state, local, and tribal governments, as well as non-profit organizations, to build a clean energy economy.
“This funding … will help mitigate impacts from wildfire smoke and heat events,” said Casey Sixkiller, EPA regional manager. “By funding these community-driven solutions, we are supporting local environmental priorities that will make a meaningful difference in supporting public health and environmental quality.”
This Community Change grant was awarded to Lane County and United Way of Lane County (UWLC) to create a network of community resilience hubs designed to help disadvantaged communities confront environmental and climate justice issues through projects that reduce pollution and increase climate resilience throughout the county.
Lane County and UWLC will open six facilities — Community Center and Library in Cottage Grove, Bob Keefer Center in Springfield, Bethel School District Fairfield Elementary School Gym in Eugene, Senior & Activities Center in Florence, Fern Ridge Service Center in Veneta, and Willamette Activity Center in Oakridge.
These facilities create the Lane TREE (Transformation for Resiliency through Equity and Engagement) Network, a partnership between UWLC and multiple programs within the Lane County Government.
The network will use EPA funding to build welcoming, inclusive spaces that provide consistent support, safe shelter, and community. All locations will be equipped with adequate supplies for emergency support in situations like wildfires and heat waves, and the capacity of local organizations that already provide resilience services will be expanded. The overall objective of the TREE Network is to improve the county’s emergency response planning and implementation.
“These hubs are intended to be locations where everybody will know where to go every time that there’s a disaster,” said Heather Buch, Lane County Commissioner for the Creswell-Cottage Grove area. “Those centers will be equipped to serve the population with whatever the need is at that time.”
Each community will determine the function of its resilience hub to cater to its area’s needs. County governments and nonprofits will support these motions while working with the communities to develop sustainable operations after the two-year grant period.
“Once we get these facilities operational and up and running, we are going to be able to provide a more predictable shelter space,” Adams said. “We’ll be able to provide these services during tough times and give them benefits on blue sky days, too.”
The development includes several steps before the Hubs are completely up and running.
Six facilities need to be renovated, and the community must be kept informed about the development process. Then, they must build the capacity of local organizations to create emergency support capable of accommodating a diverse network of community members in the event of a disaster.
Both UWLC and Lane County Government are engaged with groups in each region working on emergency preparedness and community resiliency.
“This means Lane County and United Way of Lane County will have more resources to build out their volunteer response during emergencies, leading to stronger relief efforts,” said Val Hoyle, State Rep.
The countywide TREE Network will serve as an ongoing backbone to set each community up for sustainability, looking to spread the contagious success to additional neighborhoods and areas in need.
“We actually need to put the money into these centers in each of those locations so they’re ready as soon as possible,” said Buch. “They’re not available now in this wildfire season, but we hope to see them ready for the next one.”
