Shifting power: Addressing childhood asthma through community organizing and advocacy

To create lasting positive change, it is imperative that community members have a say in what they want for their communities. The Long Beach Alliance for Children with Asthma (LBACA) was formed because parents were concerned about their children having uncontrolled asthma. LBACA's coalition activities are based on the socio-ecological model of placing families in the middle of community-wide efforts to improve asthma management. Different factors influence a family's ability to effectively control and manage childhood asthma. Therefore the Alliance has taken up environmental issues, including pollution emanating from two local ports, a planned freeway expansion, and local rail yard activity. In addressing the ports, a Clean Trucks Program has been successful in reducing air pollution. Policymakers and community leaders are acknowledging the negative health impacts related to goods movement, leading to discussions about how to promote zero emissions technology. For the I-710 expansion, LBACA is working to ensure that the final approved project considers public health effects for the people living in the corridor. It is also advocating that rail yard projects are built on-dock (inside the ports) rather than placed near residential areas, schools, parks and other sensitive land receptors. All of this has been accomplished with the active involvement and voices of community residents. In this session, strategies for engaging community members in environmental justice will be shared, including educational approaches and the creation of assessment teams that are trained in traffic counting, particulate matter monitoring, community assessment, and presentation of their findings to community groups.