Environmental Resiliency & Disaster Recovery
From heat to more frequent and extreme storms, the effects of climate change are already being felt in the LES. Our neighborhood has a mixture of environmental and social conditions that make it particularly vulnerable. Much of the neighborhood, including its public housing located on former marshland; aging infrastructure and loss of utility services are prevalent due to landlord negligence; and a we have a large concentration of community members who would need extra support in the event of a disaster. We must work to prepare ourselves for community resilience.
Community resilience is defined as the ability of a community to respond to, withstand, and recover from adverse situations. At GOLES, we also recognize how rising rents, gentrification, and displacement negatively impact resiliency by breaking up community ties and long-standing support networks. Through organizing, trainings, visioning sessions, and policy work GOLES seeks to strengthen the resilience of the LES at the individual, building-wide, and community levels. We accomplish this through community preparedness, resilient infrastructure, and coalition building.
Learn about the East Side Coastal Resiliency (ESCR) project here.
Community Preparedness
GOLES offers trainings and technical assistance to support community members in the creation of disaster and resiliency plans for their homes, buildings, and neighborhood. We also provide seasonal trainings (e.g. Hurricane, Winter, Extreme Heat) and trainings for audiences with specific needs (e.g. elders, pet-owners, etc). On a building-wide level, we work with residents to improve resilience through the following categories: energy; communications; food & water; health and wellness; and mobility.
As co-founders and leading members of LESReady! – The Lower East Side’s Long Term Recovery Group – we collaborate with community organizations, faith-based institutions, and buildings to strengthen our collective capacity to prepare for and respond to disasters in the Lower East Side..
Coalition Building
GOLES works in coalition with LESReady!, the Energy Democracy Alliance, the NYC Environmental Justice Alliance, NY Renews, and other groups to address city and state policies to strengthen the resilience of NYC neighborhoods, specifically low-income neighborhoods and communities of color most vulnerable to disasters and the effects of climate change, as well the NYC and NY State as a whole.
For more information on how to get involved in GOLES’ Resiliency and Environmental Justice work, contact Cesar Reyes at cesar@goles.org.
