The Massachusetts state government provided $750,000 in funding for the expansion of City of Medford’s “Medford Connects” project, an environmental justice initiative introduced by Mayor Brianna Lungo-Koehn in 2020. The funding comes from the fourth round of Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness grants provided by the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, which has given comparable donations to over 70 similar programs throughout the state.
In an interview with the Tufts Daily, Lungo-Koehn explained that the MVP grant would address the systemic causes of environmental concerns.
“It will allow Medford to strengthen environmental justice and climate sensitive populations by building community supports and increasing accessible communications,“ Lungo-Koehn said.
According to Catherine Dhingra, the manager for the Office of Prevention & Outreach at the City of Medford Board of Health, the project’s initial goal was to provide aid to at-risk residents during climate emergencies.
While the suburbs of Boston are not known for environmental disasters, recent rises in summer temperatures have been consequential for many Medford residents.
“A lot of our residents don’t have access to air conditioning, and many are [housing] multiple families in one or two bedroom apartments,” Dhingra explained. “We try to educate people on where the cooling centers are.”
Other issues, like flash floods, have the potential to harm densely populated areas, while worsening air quality can lead to increased asthma rates. Dhingra explained that the project’s goal was to educate more vulnerable citizens about “all sorts of things, from gas stoves to monitoring the air quality.”
The city struggled in its initial efforts to educate residents about climate issues.
“We found that a lot of people were like, ‘Well, I don't even have food to eat, a house or stable rent. Why should I be primarily focused on climate?’” Dhingra said.
Lungo-Koehn and her administration have now focused on developing resilience in the Medford community so residents can better understand and prepare for climate emergencies.
The mayor elaborated that a large portion of the grant will be used to aid so-called “Connectors” — local translators who provide language support and advocate for government services to groups that do not primarily speak English. According to Lungo-Koehn, at this later stage of the project, the grant will primarily support translators already in the community.
Other foundational goals of Medford Connects include promoting financial assistance and food security provided through targeted programs for families with young children and teenagers. The mayor’s office believes that Medford Connects has not only successfully used its MVP funding, but has served as a model to other Massachusetts municipalities.
“I think our system has progressed so much that other cities and towns are asking how we have done it,” Lungo-Koehn said. “I’ve actually talked to mayors about this and gave them ideas, especially where we're dealing with the migrant crisis and trying to support as many people who are coming to our cities and towns. I tout this as something that they need to do, even if it’s on a smaller scale.”
Dhingra elaborated that Medford Connects has recently worked in Boston’s Bunker Hill to train residents for employment in green jobs. The project also collaborates with other Massachusetts cities successful in using MVP grants, such as Cambridge, whose “Resilience Hub” serves as an example for future Medford projects.
Tufts has also played a part in assisting Medford Connects. Deborah Gebremariam, a senior majoring in Community Health, is currently interning with Dhinrga and the City of Medford. She has worked with Medford Connects to tackle local food insecurity, especially in distribution of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps.
“[I’m] looking at how many people are eligible for SNAP, but aren’t getting it, and thinking about ways to close the gap with flyers or things … to spread knowledge,” Gebremariam said.
Dhingra added that Tufts’ Tisch Library has become a hub for these recently arrived immigrants.
“They could go there to work on job applications, to use the computers and really start to connect to the library as a place where they can connect to others and get resources,” she said.
Lungo-Koehn commented on the core of the project.
“I think it’s the center of what we’re trying to do here in Medford and what our vision is,” Lungo-Koehn said. “We want to be a community that welcomes all, supports all and accepts all. This is a huge piece to that puzzle, and it goes to the heart of everything we try to do.”
