The Community Check-Up

I am applying for the Elevate Prize to amplify the work of The Community Check-Up and scale our organization’s reach and impact to other communities. We want to be able to expand our network to more countries and inspire more activists. We aim to conduct larger projects and exchange ideas with diverse minds to reduce environmental health disparities around the world by emphasizing local impact. Through our current work, we have found that many dedicated and energized individuals do not have the financial and educational resources to successfully implement their innovative ideas in their communities. The Community Check-Up will use the financial support provided by the Elevate Prize to usher lasting change within underserved communities by providing them with hands-on learning and mentorship as they enter the environmental health space. The Elevate Prize will help us showcase the impactful work we have been doing to a larger network of people and allow us to impact more young changemakers. 

My family never thought climate change was an issue we had to concern ourselves with. However, as my father continued to be exposed to city smog in his daily commute, I noticed his asthma became significantly worse and asthma attacks were the new norm in our household. Environmental issues continue to manifest as health issues for millions of people like my father. I envisioned The Community Check-Up when I realized how lacking the current climate narrative is as it fails to encompass health aspects of environmental instability. My organization aims to restructure the climate narrative as a public health emergency by improving educational outreach and raising a new generation of environmental health warriors. Most environmental organizations ignore the health repercussions associated with environmental injustices during their climate education efforts. To combat this, I decided to build a movement of young climate health advocates. Inspired by my personal struggle to enter the environmental health space, my organization provides young, minority activists with the skills and networking needed to effectively lead and drive impact in the climate health space. Looking forward, I hope to scale The Community Check-Up’s programs internationally and continue to uplift youth to amplify environmental health education. 

Over 8 million people die annually from fossil fuel-related pollution, yet less than 12% of U.S. adults understand the connection between climate and health issues. Although youth have brought climate issues to the forefront of discussion, there are few resources allocated to youth leaders that want to implement climate health education in their communities. All of the current mentorship programs that are available are only meant for those with higher education or greater financial means. Many young activists do not know how to effectively organize in their community and get discouraged as a result. The lack of support allocated to young leaders in environmental health contributes to the number of people who die annually as a result of environmental health injustices. The Warrior Program solves this issue by providing the skills and resources needed to sustainably help youth activists inspire lasting action. Our program empowers underserved communities and activists through educational outreach about environmental health instability. The program creates a domino effect, catalyzed by local action and awareness. Our goal is to restructure the climate crisis from being an abstract issue to something that everyone can relate to.

The work we do is a true innovation within the climate space because we are the first youth-led organization focused on reducing environmental health disparities.  One of our primary goals is to inspire lasting momentum for change, which we have done through our Warrior program that opens meaningful dialogue in underserved communities, our workshops that build interest in climate health, and our resource development that improves accessibility to environmental health education. Through our work, our Warriors are able to spread awareness about environmental health in their own communities. By hosting numerous workshops, like our recent air injustice workshop, we are able to teach youth about the intersection of climate and health issues. By attending our workshops, participants gain knowledge about how to fight back against specific issues and how to inspire others to do the same. Our resource guides allow for those with no prior background to learn about environmental health issues in an engaging and easy-to-understand manner. The Community Check-Up fosters a new era of environmentalism that emphasizes environmental health, social justice, and intersectionality. Through our impactful work, we are able to empower minority youth to address the environmental health issues prevalent in their own communities.

The Community Check-Up transforms local communities into healthier and more equitable areas through youth engagement and educational outreach. Our cohort of Warriors have already made meaningful strides in their local community and influenced policies at the local and state-wide levels. The Warrior Program allows for individuals to ignite activism at the local level because we believe local action often leads to meaningful change. By educating community members about the connection between environmental issues in their neighborhoods and health issues they suffer, we reduce the number of preventable deaths caused by environmental instability and inaction. Environmental health is a humanitarian issue because changes in our climate have a significant impact on our access to basic human rights, such as the right to a healthy environment. Incidences of health issues such as heat-related illness increase dramatically when temperatures change, impacting minorities and low-income individuals at a disproportionate rate. In turn, millions of people globally are killed as a result of environmental health issues. By spreading education, improving effective climate communication, and building momentum to address environmental health disparities, the Community Check-Up is directly improving humanity in a sustainable and impactful fashion.