This month, we're featuring an organization, and the leader at its helm, that is working to build a more resilient Baltimore. Allen A.M.E. Church has been a community pillar of the Poppleton neighborhood in West Baltimore for over 160 years. The church's pastor, Reverend Brenda White, was appointed to Allen A.M.E. seven years ago and has significantly expanded the community-facing work of the church in the intervening years. At the height of the pandemic, Allen A.M.E., along with their associated community engagement entity Pathway Forward, partnered with World Central Kitchen to provide over 20,000 meals to community members over a 6-month period. Today, the church continues to provide free meals to its local community through a partnership with Paul's Place. For the past 3 years, Pathway Forward has also managed a community garden, with herbs, vegetables, and even fruit trees, that is open to harvest for the whole surrounding community. With the help of Interfaith Partners of the Chesapeake, Pathway Forward has also organized a Green Team to help maintain and beautify the church property and nearby vacant lots.

Last year, after realizing that there was a huge gap in emergency services for West Baltimore neighborhoods, Reverend Brenda White partnered with the Baltimore Office of Sustainability to designate Allen A.M.E. as a Community Resiliency Hub. Baltimore's Community Resiliency Hub Program connects embedded community organizations in climate-vulnerable neighborhoods with emergency resources so that they are able to provide support to their immediate community in the event of an emergency. To increase the resilience of the church, Allen A.M.E. has invested in fridges for medicine storage and a dedicated space for water storage in extreme heat emergencies. Reverend Brenda White is hoping to continue building resiliency by hosting community trainings, such as STOP THE BLEED®, and working with the Office of Sustainability to assess the feasibility of solar and battery for the church. For Reverend Brenda White, this commitment to resiliency is driven by a love of Baltimore and her community. She feels "grateful to be, and to serve, in Baltimore City."

The Office of Sustainability has welcomed Maleik Grier as our new Community & Youth Engagement Fellow. Maleik is a native of Baltimore and is a graduate student in the School of Social Work at the University of Maryland Baltimore. His career interests span community organizing, policy change, and program management. He will be working with the Office of Sustainability part-time through the spring, supporting our Office's youth and community engagement work. This will include supporting our Youth Environmental Leadership Program interns, contributing to our social media and other outreach efforts, and formalizing the program curriculum for the Youth Environmental Leadership Program and other experiential learning opportunities offered by the Office.

Baltimore City has been chosen as a participant in the Cities Forward program, a collaborative initiative between the U.S. Department of State, ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability, Resilient Cities Catalyst, and the Institute of the Americas. Launched at the Cities Summit of the Americas, this program is designed to assist Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) and U.S. cities in creating sustainable, inclusive, and resilient futures through project consultation, co-design, and knowledge sharing. Mayor Scott noted, "Baltimore’s selection to participate in the first-ever Cities Forward cohort is ... a statement about our commitment to building a sustainable and resilient city for the future and our eagerness to partner with cities across the globe.” See the full press release here.

Laurel Peltier Took On Multi-Million Dollar Private Energy Companies Scamming Baltimore’s Low-Income Households, One Victim at a Time -- Inside Climate News

"'When I looked at her bill, it made my blood boil,” Peltier said of McFadden’s case. “It looks like she’s been paying her bills. The real reason she got a turn-off notice is that her account is on a third-party supplier called IDT, charging her a much higher rate. And she was completely unaware of it,' she said."

Adversity to Advancement: 15 Climate Impacts & 45 Black-Led Pathways to Climate Justice -- Jacqui Patterson, The Chisholm Legacy Project

"This paper lays out the myriad ways that Black communities are differentially impacted by the perpetrators of climate change, while also demonstrating that Black communities are leading holistic, comprehensive areas of focus and approaches necessary to advance a Just Transition. By laying out the content in categories reflecting issue areas, as well as diverse approaches, this lengthy yet merely illustrative list demonstrates that it’s not just what we do; it is also how we do it."

National Preparedness Month is a great time to make sure you're proactive and prepared for emergencies, as they can happen at any time. It has long been advised to change the batteries in your smoke detectors when the time changes in the fall. For those already taking that step, try habit stacking to keep yourself and your family prepared for other emergencies that could arise. Make use of www.ready.gov, an incredible resource for finding a variety of checklists to prepare for disasters specific to your family's needs. There are resources for those who live with older adults, pets and animals, and people with disabilities. The site also provides general information on how to build an emergency preparedness kit as well as safety skills like knowing how to shut off utilities, how to use a fire extinguisher, and more.  

Another valuable resource can be found through OSHA. They provide disaster-specific guidance on how to prepare. Especially helpful this time of year are the resources on flooding and winter weather. Spending just a little time to arm yourself with information and knowing where to go with questions or needs could be invaluable in an emergency.