Hi Friends!

I hope you are staying dry and warm this week.

There is a ton happening with CHB right now, and this is a very full newsletter this month with a lot of good stuff. First, GREAT news: we hired a Communications and Marketing Director to help raise public awareness in our community and we’re pretty excited about it! We’re also gearing up for the South Tacoma Warehouse project which has a public meeting TONIGHT via zoom. Consider joining us but if you can’t make it, send in a comment before April 21.

Don’t forget! We have our annual fundraiser happening May 20, 2022. Be sure to come dressed to impress in our “Under the Sea” theme. If you love to get dressed up like we do, and want to see us continue to support the health and wellbeing of the community, join us. Don’t miss your chance to buy tickets before they sell out!

Check out the rest of the newsletter for all the happenings with the bay this month!

Sincerely,

Melissa

Phyllis McElroy Appointed Communications and Marketing Director

Please join us in welcoming Phyllis McElroy as our first Communications and Marketing Director! This community rallied to support us in our fundraising efforts and we can not thank you enough. CHB created this new position to strengthen the organization’s outreach and raise public awareness of environmental justice issues in Tacoma and the greater South Sound region.

A proud graduate of Lincoln High School, Phyllis brings nearly two decades of results-driven experience in strategic communications and digital marketing to CHB. Prior to joining CHB Phyllis honed her skills in Atlanta where she worked in digital marketing while pursuing a master’s degree in Public Relations & Applied Communications. After returning to the Tacoma area, Phyllis worked on a community-led effort supported by the Washington State Department of Health garnering earned media and social media engagement to connect with marginalized communities impacted by pandemic-related health issues. She also represented JayRay, local ad and PR agency in media relations efforts for The Kinsey African American Art and History Collection exhibition at Tacoma Art Museum.

Please reach out to send her a welcome note and say hello.

CHB Launches The Tacoma Green New Deal

We are thrilled to kick off our new campaign, The Tacoma Green New Deal (TGND)! It will transform Tacoma from the grassroots up, directly addressing climate change, economic insecurity, and systemic racism. Last weekend the news broke that the UN warns we are ‘firmly on track toward an unlivable world’. The news was grim, but there is STILL TIME TO ACT.

It’s long overdue for a bold vision that both improves lives and averts a climate catastrophe. The time is NOW to make a down payment on a livable future.

Last Friday the BRAND-NEW Tacoma Green New Deal Coalition kicked off with a ‘Power Hour’ virtual event. It featured a diverse group of advocates who are passionate about transforming Tacoma forward into a climate prosperous future.

Click HERE to watch a recording of our campaign kickoff!

SWAN CREEK TRAIL WITH CONSERVATION NORTHWEST

On Saturday, April 2^nd, CHB and Conservation Northwest teamed up to host an Environmental Justice Camp at Swan Creek Park. We had a rockin’ good time hiking along Swan Creek Trail, starting from the community garden and heading downstream towards the Pioneer Way Entrance. As the second event in our Science X Art Series, our EJC Campers measured canopy cover and water quality along the creek, learning about the benefits of healthy stream buffers along the way.

We identified native plants and trees such as Western Sword Fern, Oregon Grape, Salmonberry, Licorice Fern, and Western Hemlock just to name a few! With paint pens in hand, our girls decorated rocks with drawings of native plants and trees as well as messages of kindness and positivity.

Look for these rocks along the Swan Creek Trail and spread some love and joy to your community!

Bridge Industrial, an industrial park developer is planning to build a 2.5 million square foot warehouse facility (that’s over 40 football fields) in South Tacoma. The City of Tacoma has suggested that the environmental and community impacts are small enough that they can be mitigated but we disagree.

This project will cause negative impacts in an area that is already suffering from the effects of air pollution and is comprised mostly of people of color. We urge the City to issue a ‘Determination of Significance’ for the project and to require an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) so that we can fully understand what this project would mean for Tacoma.

Click HERE to send a letter to the City’s Planning Department to demand an EIS.

Want more info? Click HERE to attend the informational meeting happening Thursday, April 14 at 6 p.m. via Zoom.

Farewell and Good Luck to Khadijah

Khadijah Tividad, our Clean Water Educator has accepted a new role and will be moving on to new things. We wish her the best of luck in her new position, and are incredibly grateful for what she brought to CHB and to the Tacoma community. She will be missed!

Khadijah couldn’t leave without sending one last message to all of you:

To the Communities that help make this a Healthy Bay, I want to say thank you for letting me a part of your journey. My time with CHB has been memorable and it has been a pleasure serving as your Clean Water Educator. As we walk into spring, I will be stepping onto a new path as the PNW Regional Program Manager for Big City Mountaineers as well as a Travel Guide with Adventures in Good Company. As I end my time with CHB, I want to encourage all of you explore the outdoors and to take care of the people and places you love.

This means an opportunity has opened up for someone new to join our team as the Community Education Coordinator. They will be responsible for developing and delivering experiential education programming to both youth and adult audiences to spark the next generation of diverse environmental advocates in Pierce County. If you or someone you know may be interested, please visit our website or CLICK HERE for more information.