'clean air - healthy homes' is a collaborative initiative to address negative health outcomes during ever-increasing wildfire smoke episodes by CO-creating a wildfire smoke ready action plan and…

Climate Smart Missoula will receive $150,000 from the Environmental Protection Agency Region 8 under the Environmental Justice Small Grant Program (CFDA 66.604) to address negative health outcomes from wildfire smoke through community outreach and preparedness initiatives from July 2022 to December 2023. The recipient will partner with local organizations including All Nations Health Center to host planning meetings, focus groups, and pop-up events to survey 200 community members and distribute portable air cleaners to 150 households. The program aims to strengthen regional wildfire smoke readiness networks, empower community members to support neighbors during smoke events, and decrease health impacts including emergency room visits and asthma hospitalizations. All Nations Health Center will receive a sub-award to advertise and host community meetings to engage underserved groups.

'clean air - healthy homes' is a collaborative initiative to address negative health outcomes during ever-increasing wildfire smoke episodes by CO-creating a wildfire smoke ready action plan and programs based on outreach, surveys and investigations with local indigenous and underserved communities. IT will also address air pollution by providing direct access to portable air cleaners. The initiative will strengthen community resilience by working with partners to survey how individuals understand the health impacts of wildfire smoke and then prepare for these events. From this, the grantee will CO-develop an action plan for wildfire events with activities, shared resources, and messaging. IT builds on the guiding principles, strategies, and partnerships from the recently adopted county-wide climate resiliency plan, climate ready missoula and climate smart's summer smart initiative. Activities:the recipient and community partners, including all nations health center, will host 2 partner planning meetings, CO-host 8 focus groups, and host 5 POP-up events in key neighborhoods. The recipient will develop a QA plan and questionnaire to survey 200 community members at POP up events. The program will gather feedback from 150 households who received an air filter. The health center will canvas 70 indigenous community members via a pilot intake process and canvas 180 homes in key neighborhoods. The activities include creating 10 meeting-in-a-box kits for partner use. The program will host 2 work sessions to assemble do IT yourself air filter + box fan combinations for use during wild fire season. The program and partners will share information regionally via media, websites. Finally, the program will host 6 debrief sessions (focus groups and partners) to gather feedback on how to improve future project work and glean success stories. Subrecipient:sub-award to all nations health center to advertise for and host community meetings.outcomes:residents who received a filter report higher comfort levels at home (target = 75% report increase in comfort at home) - increased community awareness of health impacts of wildfire smoke and simple steps to take to stay healthy (target = 20% increase in community awareness) - stronger information sharing network across partner organizations and meeting in-a-box tool (target = 10 organizations commit to hosting a climate related meeting each year) - community members feel empowered to check-in on neighbors during wildfire smoke events and share resources for staying health (target = 20 neighborhood ambassadors identified) - establish tracking system for smoke impacts within established efforts, such as annual surveys and intakes (target = all nations pilot project expanded and data collected for invest health) - regional network strengthened for wildfire smoke readiness (target = 2 presentations to climate ready montana and montana health professionals for a healthy climate) - decrease in emergency room visits during wildfire smoke events - invest health neighborhoods report fewer poor physical health days in 2023 report - community consensus that climate resiliency planning is a priority and other entities including businesses get involved - 2 other montana communities create a wildfire smoke ready plan via engagement of local communities - indigenous - non-hispanic white mortality GAP decreases - decrease in asthma hospitalizations during wildfire smoke events - affordable housing has provisions for clean indoor air during wildfire smoke events - we have a more resilient and cohesive community where health is prioritized for everyone. The intended beneficiaries include individuals in and around missoula county, including those who travel to the county for health care services from nearby reservations.