Global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are changing the climate in ways that threaten the vitality, livability, and prosperity of the Everett community. The City of Everett is projected to encounter changes in temperature, precipitation, rain and snowfall, sea level, and flooding frequency. These changes will exacerbate existing concerns and introduce new challenges to Everett’s natural resources, economy, infrastructure, and quality of life.
Kinston, a city of about 20,000 in Lenoir County, North Carolina, suffered repeated flood losses during the 1990s. After Hurricanes Fran, Dennis, and Floyd damaged or flooded more than 75 percent of the county’s homes, the community embarked upon a comprehensive approach to improve resilience. Flood-prone properties were purchased, and whole neighborhoods were relocated to higher ground. As a result, natural floodplain functions were restored, and the purchase of the first 100 homes saved approximately $6 million in avoided flood losses during the next big storm.
Climate displacement - a phenomenon expected to eventually affect hundreds of millions of people - by its very nature implies that people and communities can no longer reside in their traditional homes and that they will require new living arrangements to replace their former homes and lands. This much is clear. What is less clear, however, is where these people will go, who is responsible for them and what policies should be pursued to give climate displaced people the best chance to start life over in the most dignified manner possible.
The National Disaster Housing Strategy (the Strategy) serves two purposes. First, it describes how we as a Nation currently provide housing to those affected by disasters. It summarizes, for the first time in a single document, the many sheltering and housing efforts we have in the United States and the broad array of organizations that are involved in managing these programs. The Strategy also outlines the key principles and policies that guide the disaster housing process.
As an affordable housing stakeholder, use this map to increase the likelihood that your redevelopment projects consider resilience. With the key below, identify stages of a typical redevelopment process when resiliency assessments, and resiliency related retrofits, are recommended, so that you can plan these into your own project cycles. The map focuses heavily on preservation and redevelopment but can also be applied to new construction.
The Greenlining Institute (GLI) is a nonprofit organization founded to advance economic opportunity and community empowerment through policy, research, organizing, and leadership throughout California. The Environmental Equity team works to address climate change, pollution, and poverty while ensuring that any investments or adjustments made as a result of their projects take into consideration community input in decision making and anti-displacement strategies.
The Partnership for Southern Equity (PSE) is working with local partners and community members in the Atlanta metropolitan area to address inequities and displacement caused by increasing development and climate-related pressures. PSE’s Equitable Development Implementation Tool brings together community needs with development projects to anticipate and protect against displacement, strengthen and respect communities, and heal environmental injustices.
The Southface Institute (SFI), located in Atlanta, Georgia, promotes sustainable homes, workplaces, and communities through education, research, advocacy, and technical assistance. SFI is using community engagement, communication, and outreach to implement green infrastructure projects, aid in workforce development, and ameliorate displacement pressures in Atlanta’s southwest region.
Climate change is playing a bigger role in determining where and how we live, and is limiting access to and availability of affordable healthy housing, healthy food choices, transportation choices, and social networks, which is forcing displacement of individuals and communities. Displacement—whether temporary or permanent, forced or voluntary—is an issue rooted in inequity and exacerbated by climate change.
Enterprise Community Partners (ECP) is a national nonprofit dedicated to creating opportunities and connections through affordable housing. In collaboration with more than 50 partners in Southern California, ECP tackles issues related to housing affordability and homelessness through policy, advocacy, programs, and capital that promote more equitable communities. ECP’s history is grounded in anti-displacement initiatives that utilize funding, design, and community engagement to provide quality affordable housing for all who need it.