NEAR WEST SIDE — A Woodlawn-based community group will host three days of free workshops, meetings with legislators, neighborhood tours and more as organizers kick off their effort to boost environmental justice work across the region.
Blacks in Green will host the Justice Comes of Age event Thursday-Saturday, celebrating the launch of the environmental nonprofit’s Thriving Communities Technical Assistance Center. The event is at the Dorin Forum, 725 W. Roosevelt Road, on the University of Illinois-Chicago’s campus.
Breakfast and registration begins at 8 a.m. Thursday, followed by an opening speech by Mayor Brandon Johnson at 9 a.m.
Presentations and workshops on applying for grants, opportunities for government funding, youth activism, energy justice, Blacks in Green’s Sustainable Square Mile initiative and more will follow throughout Thursday and Friday.
Blacks in Green will also hold 15-minute, one-on-one consultations for attendees looking to discuss the state and federal resources available through the new environmental center.
The event winds down with a disco dance party Friday night and tours of Woodlawn, Bronzeville and North Lawndale — with a focus on the legacy of the Great Migration — from 10:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday.
To register for the event, click here. To view the full event agenda, click here.
The Biden administration’s Environmental Justice Thriving Communities Technical Assistance Center program aims to support community groups looking to expand their ability to apply for and manage grant money.
Blacks in Green was one of 16 groups nationwide selected last year to open a center that would support environmental justice work in Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, Wisconsin and Minnesota. The group received a $10 million grant from the Environmental Protection Agency for the project.
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