It takes a village!

From Jamie

I am excited to report that the environmental justice grant was submitted on Friday.

Our submission felt solid due to the support provided from all of you. It consisted of an 18-page narrative and 15 pages of supporting documents. My deepest gratitude, as the pitched project connects so strongly to improving the health of our community, a strong connecting thread for all of us.

If awarded, the grant will provide funding to remove rubber chips at seven schools, five playgrounds and replace them with a natural alternative. This will both reduce the heat island effect of the chips, the chemical exposure, and the run-off exposure. The budget also includes trees for neighborhoods near the schools to provide additional shade from our increasingly warming temperatures. Last, four temperature cameras will be purchased so that UWL students can work with SPACE (Safer Playspaces And Community Environments) to measure the temperature differences before and after the rubber chip removal and tree planting.

A few shout-outs:

Lewis and Troy - Your “yes” was crucial to getting the project off the ground. You represent our two biggest partners on the grant and I appreciate your extra time in making this happen. When we first opened the application, Lewis’s eyes were so big, but everything got filled out in the end. Thank you for the extra time that you both put in.

Clara, Alysa, Jenna, Jane and Troy – Your letters of commitment are very important. They are worth a lot of points and show that your group is interested in this project.

Nell, Amy, Katie, and Carrie – Thank you for your proofreading and extra suggestions. My grammar needs all the help it can get.

Pat – Thank you for pulling La Crosse data to get us started and have an understanding of La Crosse demographics.

Alysa- The research that your student found lives on. Thank you for leading us to the solid baseline of information that has launched us into this project.

Cathy – Thank you for your moral support and guiding the SPACE group. Your quote “Let’s do our best work and then let it go into the universe” served as a good model during this work.

SPACE team - You keep this work going. Your dedication to student and environmental health is inspiring. 🙏

I learned that it takes a village (or dream team, as it were) to pull off this type of grant. Thank you for being a part of this.

We find out if we received the grant sometime between June and August. I will circle back when we hear. In the meantime, be healthy out there and stay off the chips (unless they are organic, healthy, edible ones 😊).

I hope I get to work with you more in the future,