PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 22, 2025
Contact:
Denise Keele, PhD
Board Chair, Kalamazoo Climate Crisis Coalition
denise.keele@miclimateaction.org
(217) 899-6959
Jenny Doezema,
Executive Director
Kalamazoo Climate Crisis Coalition
(269) 352-1213
DETROIT, MICHIGAN, April 22 and 23, 2025
Today and tomorrow, as people from across Michigan come together for the MI Healthy Climate Conference, we will be bringing more than just ideas and passion, we'll be bringing frustration and urgency. For those of us working at the intersection of climate justice, racial equity, and community resilience, the federal government’s recent delays in releasing Community Change Grant (CCG) funds are more than bureaucratic, they are deeply harmful.
We believe Michigan residents are owed an understanding of the impacts of this continued chaotic disruption.
Collectively, CCG funding, which Congress authorized and the EPA obligated to us through fully executed grant agreements, totaled over $82M for projects in Detroit, Benton Harbor, Kalamazoo and three Tribal organizations spanning over 11 counties and seven federally recognized Tribes. These Michigan grantees are committed to providing benefits to the state and our communities with projects that include:
Workforce development, specifically skilled on-the-job training in construction, basic electric, and energy efficiency home repairs which will ultimately lead to career placement for at least 200 individuals residing in the communities being served;
Providing energy efficiency improvements and upgrades for at least 700 low- or moderate-income households resulting in energy savings for families experiencing high energy burdens;
Transforming houses of worship, public and Tribal buildings, and neighborhood centers into resilience hubs by investments in energy-saving building improvements and green infrastructure. These buildings will provide neighbors refuge during extreme weather events and reduce reliance on government emergency services;
Economic expansion opportunities with small businesses, contractors and suppliers.
Climate change is not a future threat. It is already here, and its effects are not felt equally. Underserved communities, especially Black, Indigenous, and low-income residents are on the frontlines of both environmental harm and economic injustice. Our projects are designed to close those gaps.
Our ability to live fully into our mission at the Kalamazoo Climate Crisis Coalition (KCCC) - mobilizing collective action, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and supporting renewable energy through a transition grounded in social, racial, economic and environmental justice - has been severely compromised by the intermittent freezing of funds without notice or explanation. We cannot overstate how difficult these disruptions have been in hiring staff and paying existing staff, contractors and other invoices, and issuing RFPs for contractors, all of which have led to delays in moving forward with our County’s $18.9M CCG projects within the three-year grant period.
We want to assure the public that we - the Kalamazoo Climate Crisis Coalition and local partners - have participated in ongoing conversations with our elected officials and their staff in public forums and in writing to underscore the urgent need to move forward with obligated, fully executed grant agreements. We will continue to push forward because this work impacts all in our community.
Throughout this challenging process, we have been reminded that the government can work for the people when it is rooted in true partnership. The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) has been unwavering in their two-year+ commitment to helping us secure CCG funding, providing ongoing technical assistance, and for helping us and our state-wide partners navigate uncertainty over the last challenging several weeks. We have felt at every step of the way the EGLE team “works side-by-side with partners at local, regional, state and federal levels [to] safeguard our environment while supporting the economic growth and development crucial for Michigan’s future” as noted on their website.
Release the funds. Let us get to work.
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