This story was originally published by Capital B Gary.
By Jenae Barnes
Capital B Gary
July 29, 2024
Gary community members from different walks of life have joined forces with city leaders to tackle a pervasive problem that affects them all: climate change.
Mayor Eddie Melton’s administration recently began recruiting residents to join a new environmentally focused advisory council, headed by local sustainability and community leaders, to help the city address critical challenges in the region.
Northwest Indiana is home to four of the five highest-polluting industrial facilities in the country, and experiences poorer air quality and higher flood risks compared to most regions in the rest of the state.
“I’m ecstatic,” said Freida Graves, director of Faith CDC’s Food is Medicine program. “Before, there was nobody connecting us. Now, we are able to touch all areas of the city by coming together.”
On July 10, Melton held a kick-off meeting of the newly established council, with the idea that everyone from environmental advocacy groups to faith-based farmers has a part to play in Gary’s fight against the rising threat of climate change. The council, which a city spokesperson said will include up to 11 members, aims to advance sustainable practices, improve climate resiliency, and engage more with Gary residents to get their perspectives and feedback around climate issues.
Council members say this effort has been a long time coming.
Carolyn McCrady, founding member of Gary Advocates for Responsible Development, said that environmental advocates such as her group have not always had a seat at the table when it comes to making environmental decisions for their city, and, at times, were at odds with policymakers.
The longtime Gary resident sees the formation of this council, with the support of the Melton administration, as a key step toward improving cooperation between the city and advocates, because now, “we are not fighting with City Hall, we are allies with City Hall.”
“There’s never really been this kind of council that emanates out of City Hall,” McCrady said. “So it really is a historic evolution, and a necessary one, because future development will depend on environmental considerations and sustainability practices.”
Prior to the council, Graves partnered with environmental groups like GARD on similarly aligned projects, tackling permaculture gardens, soil cleansing, and air pollution. However, this is the first time they will be working together, officially, with the support of a Gary mayor.
“It feels like we have support coming from everywhere in Gary leadership,” said Jalisa Mauldin, a council participant. “So it feels kind of like you’re in a car that you’ve been pressing the gas, while it was in park, but now we are finally in drive.”
The council will be broken up into seven focus committees, throughout different sectors of the city to be involved. The committees will initially meet separately with their respective groups, and then come together to discuss what the city’s priorities should be. A Melton spokesperson said 80 community members had been invited to serve on committees.
As advisers, members don’t have the power to make or enforce policies on their own, but will have the ear of the administration to weigh in on a range of environmental and sustainability issues that impact the city, including carbon emissions, polluting infrastructures and industries, water conservation, and quality of life.
“My hope is that the environmental and sustainability advisory council becomes a sounding board for the environmental concerns of our Gary citizens, and beyond that, I really hope to see that these concerns lead to local changes and ordinances,” said Mauldin, who is also the Indiana outreach coordinator of faith organization Faith in Place.
Lori Latham, chair of the council’s air pollution advisory committee, said she is proud of the council’s leadership, adding that her priority is improving the currently “poor” federal rating of Gary’s air quality.
“We do this by convening partners at every level of government, environmental activists, residents, and sustainability stakeholders to discuss local, current issues and events that impact our air quality and proliferate climate change,” she said.
Meanwhile, Graves, a health and wellness committee member on the council, said she wants to see more education throughout the city on how to grow food, and how the environment impacts the food that is grown. This, in turn, will help improve air quality, decrease respiratory diagnoses, and address the food insecurity in the city, the licensed nurse said.
Overall, members say the council marks a shift in priorities for the climate crisis that is already affecting Gary.
“People think they can come here, and they can pollute, and that’s acceptable, because that’s what you do in Gary,” McCrady said. “We’re known as the sacrifice zone, and we want to change that.”
Jenae Barnes is Capital B Gary’s health and environment reporter. You can reach Jenae at jenae.barnes@capitalbnews.org.
