Alternatives for Community and Environment (ACE)

ADDRESS: 2343 Washington St, 2nd Floor,  Roxbury  MA  02119
PHONE: (617) 442-3343
FAX: (617) 442-2425
E-MAIL: info@ace-ej.org
WEBSITE: http://www.ace-ej.org/

DESCRIPTION: ACE Mission Statement
Information source: www.ace-ej.org/

The Problem: Environmental Injustice
Low-income communities and communities of color are historically the hardest hit by environmental and public health problems. Residents must deal daily with hazards from midnight dumping on vacant lots, lead contamination in building materials, and toxics in air and groundwater, to lack of greenspace, polluting facilities, and decrepit housing and schools. Yet, these neighborhoods have had the fewest resources -- whether legal, medical, educational, financial, or political -- to confront these threats. Making these environmental problems even more difficult to solve are the associated economic injustices which have left older urban neighborhoods with a dearth of economic opportunities.

Low income and minority neighborhoods in New England's cities face many different environmental problems. For instance, within a 2 1/2 mile radius centered on Lawrence, a Massachusetts city composed of 60% people of color, three waste incinerators account for over 40% of all the trash burned in the state. On the other hand, residents of Boston's neighborhoods of color such as Roxbury and Dorchester have found that they are assaulted with numerous smaller threats. For example, decades of economic disinvestment have left thousands of vacant lots and buildings, which are now magnets for solid and hazardous waste dumping. There are hundreds of small polluting businesses such as auto body shops, nail salons, and dry cleaners. Contributing to the poor air quality of these neighborhoods are the 14 bus and truck depots, housing over 1150 diesel vehicles within a 1 mile radius of Roxbury. While many of these small pollution sources have been unregulated or escaped enforcement of existing laws, the cumulative impacts can be severe. For example, poor indoor and outdoor air quality in Roxbury has resulted in the state's highest rates of asthma hospitalization -- over five times the Massachusetts average.

That low income communities and communities of color face such dire environmental and economic conditions is not so much the failing of law or science as it is the result of political disempowerment. Residents have fought long and hard to protect the health and safety of their neighborhoods. But conventional environmental problem solving has not meaningfully involved nor protected those who are most affected. Environmental laws, agencies, and mainstream nonprofit groups have not focused on the needs of the poor or people of color.

ACE's Mission:
ACE believes that with opportunities to participate in environmental decision making and access to the appropriate resources, residents - both youth and adults - can achieve lasting environmental, public health, and economic benefits. ACE is working in partnership with community organizations and residents to achieve environmental justice by:

Educating citizens on their rights and opportunities for involvement in environmental and public health decision making.

Developing the capacity of neighborhoods to take control over problems affecting their health and environment.

Creating systemic solutions to address the unequal distribution of environmental burdens and to promote safe, sustainable economic development.

What makes ACE a unique organization is that our problem solving models have developed from our neighborhood base -- from the inside out. Unlike traditional advocacy groups, ACE does not predetermine the problems but rather works with grassroots organizations to identify and solve the issues that flow from their concerns. While we focus much of our attention on building local institutions, we also recognize the need for systemic change. But we do not get involved in "high-level" policy circles unless there is a clear mandate from our neighborhood constituents and there are opportunities for them to be involved.

ACE is not a traditional "service-provider" or legal services organization but a partner providing the legal and technical tools to support problem solving, community organizing, and local leadership development. Despite our professional training, we believe that local knowledge and action needs to drive the solutions. In our partnerships we are more apt to listen first than to speak. In all our programs we strive not only to help residents resolve the immediate problem at hand, but to leave the community better equipped to deal with future issues on their own. (www.ace-ej.org/).