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The Syracuse University Environmental Finance Center is among 29 regional centers nationwide selected for a five-year grant from the Environmental Protection Agency, SU’s EFC announced in a press release on Monday.

Now, the center — which works to help communities implement sustainable infrastructure — is shifting its focus to begin setting up projects in February for the first year allocation of $1,084,000, as well as to prioritizing community-based initiatives and accessibility in the process.

Over the remaining four years included in the grant, SU’s EFC will receive at least $950,000 per year to fund projects in EPA region 2, which includes New York, New Jersey, Puerto
Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, as well as eight Native Nations, according to the release. In local communities throughout the designated EPA region, those involved with the center are working to fund environmental infrastructure with individualized focus for each area’s needs.

“The unprecedented nature of the funding SU-EFC has received from the U.S. EPA to provide technical assistance to underserved communities demonstrates a real commitment to ensuring safe, affordable, and reliable water for every household in the country,” SU’s EFC Water Resiliency Initiatives Director Khristopher Dodson said in the release. “SU-EFC is proud to be part of the national network of EFCs who will be providing these services, in some cases as teams, across the country.”

After nearly 30 years of environmental work by SU’s EFC, Tess Clark, the center’s program manager, said there’s been a recent shift in the viability of environmental infrastructure throughout the country: infrastructure, like water pipes and landfills, is reaching the end of its expected life. She said that because there were existing managing and financing challenges in communities they worked with prior to this shift, remediation projects can look vastly different between areas.

As the center goes about planning its projects, Clark emphasized the importance of approaching communities on a case-by-case basis, in a way that works to address a given community’s specific needs.

Averi Davis, a program associate with the center, said that beyond projects which address infrastructure, one way that support can fit a community’s unique needs is via outreach and education. Clark added that the communities they work with fall across a wide spectrum regarding what is needed to execute their vision and achieve their environmental needs.

“Some of them are all the way up at, ‘We just need preliminary engineering design,’ and that’s something where we can connect to one of our partners that does that across this grant,” Clark said. “Some of them are down here at, ‘My community doesn’t understand flood risk, what can we do?’ And that’s a different side.”

In connecting with communities to implement projects with, Clark emphasized the importance of not making assumptions. She said she and others at the center make an effort to adapt to a given community’s requests and not push their own plans.

“Our long term goal is to really meet communities where they are at, and to help them get to executing the vision they have for their community to be healthy and thriving,” Clark said. “It’s not helpful to go in and tell someone, ‘Hey, you need to replace your water infrastructure. It’s failing.’ What I mean is, ‘Hey, what’s going on? Where are you struggling the most?’”

Clark also referenced a deficit model, which she said operates under the presumption that communities have a cup that someone needs to fill with knowledge. As it implements new projects going into the next year and the overall five years of the grant’s lifetime, she said members of the center will aim to leave their preconceptions at the door and immerse themselves in the communities they serve.

“What we do matters, but we also need to be hearing and using local vernacular, understanding, connecting with stories, avoiding jargon, visiting communities where they are doing site visits and consultations,” Clark said. “These things enhance our communication and our practices that cross the boundary between where we are here at Syracuse University, and where communities may be and their journey to achieving safe and sustainable infrastructure.”

Davis and Clark both said their efforts going forward will further prioritize accessibility by working to communicate effectively in the right language for the communities they’re working with.

When it comes to enhancing communication, Davis added that a large part of what the center does is hosting events and roundtables. She said the center’s goal is to make their resources as available as possible and build the trust necessary for communities to take advantage of those resources.

“A lot of communities are weary of how much time it takes, and rightfully so. It takes a lot of time when there’s lots of strings attached and hoops to jump through,” Davis said. “That’s why communities traditionally haven’t accessed (resources like these) before, and it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s easier now. There’s just a lot more money. And there’s a lot of need. So our job is to try to make it easier.”

Published on January 26, 2023 at 1:02 am

Contact Jana: jlseal@syr.edu | @JanaLoSeal