Who We Are & What we do?
Advocating for
Air Quality
Since 2021
The Healthy Air Network is a collaboration of organizations and community members who work to improve air quality, increase climate resilience, and advocate for environmental justice in Massachusetts.
We work together to:
- Provide live air quality data directly to families in our region, so that community residents can make informed decisions on activities.
- Analyze data to understand the sources of air pollution.
- Advocate for changes to address poor air quality and the health inequities that are related to air pollution.
Together the Healthy Air Network can support collective efforts in policy and environment projects and to ensure we all have access to healthy air.
Background
The Healthy Air Network builds community leadership on air quality, climate resilience, environmental justice and urban forestry in Massachusetts. This project began as a way to understand and address the high rates of asthma and the health inequities in Springfield and surrounding areas. The Springfield region including Hampden County was the Asthma Capital for two years; black and brown communities experience higher prevalence as well as more likely to visit the emergency room or hospital for asthma. Springfield and Holyoke are geographically segregated by race, ethnicity and income, and hard hit by environmental injustice and health inequities. We want to know how air pollution impacts our health and how to take action.
With initial support in 2021 from the Massachusetts Attorney General’s office, we set up this growing network of low-cost air sensors measuring local, neighborhood air quality. The sensors are connected to a website which provides real-time outdoor concentrations of data on fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and ozone, along with historical data.
Our goal is to empower community members by building skills to educate and advocate with the data collected, fostering resident advisor leadership, collaborative relationships with community-based organizations, and climate education with youth. We are committed to communicating data and analysis that is understandable for the lay public and actionable for community residents, organizations, and decision-makers.
Our network is led by the Public Health Institute of Western MA with technical lead Yale School of Public Health. Our early partners in Western MA included as well as municipalities, community organizations, and our Resident Advisory Board.
City of Springfield, the City of Holyoke, the Public Health Institute of Western Massachusetts, Live Well Springfield, PV Asthma Coalition, ReGreen Springfield, the Earthwatch Institute, and the Yale School of Public Health. The Hitchcock Center for the Environment joined the collaboration in 2022 and is now leading efforts in Franklin county and North Quabbin Region. In 2023, the Massachusetts Asthma Action Partnership convened by Health Resources in Action, received funding to join the network and expand throughout Massachusetts and New England. Goundwork Trusts from New Bedford, Lawrence and Somerville have recently joined the network.
Thank you to our funders!
We are grateful to our funders. Thank you!
Environmental Protection Agency Environmental Justice Collaborative Problem Solving Grants
Environmental Protection Agency Community Air Monitoring Grant
T4MA
Massachusetts Department of Public Health/ERG
Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office
NOAA
Health Equity & Environmental Justice
Our project is rooted in a commitment to health equity and environmental justice. Low income communities of color are more impacted by poor air quality: they are more likely to live close to major roadways, factories, ports and industrial facilities; they experience health disparities such as higher rates of asthma and more emergency room and hospital visits; and they experience the legacy of racism and disinvestment with neighborhoods with fewer grocery stores, parks and tree and other services and amenities. We hope to address health equity and environmental justice by documenting poor air quality and supporting actions to improve air quality, health and racial justice.
How low income communities of color are impacted
Many low-income communities of color are disproportionately impacted by air pollution and poor air quality due to proximity to major sources of air pollution. These factors include factories, major roadways, ports, railyards, and industrial facilities. Living near these sources can lead to significant negative health effects like asthma, reduced lung function, cardiovascular disease , and premature death
Legacies of structural racism such as redlining, discriminatory lending FHA policies, and disinvestment in historically redlined neighborhoods have created what are known as “sacrifice zones.” These areas suffer from an inequitable distribution of pollution sources, including major roadways, rail lines, ports, and industrial facilities, which disproportionately exposes low-income communities of color to poor air quality and pollution. Many historically redlined neighborhoods endure worse air quality, limited access to green space, and higher risks of heat island effects, all of which negatively impact health outcomes. Consequently, these neighborhoods experience disproportionately higher rates of cardiovascular disease, increased hospitalizations for asthma, and poorer birth outcomes.
Regional Efforts
In addition to our statewide communications efforts, our partners are leading projects in their region to address local air quality challenges. Check here to find out what’s happening in your area. Contact our partners in your region or contact us to learn more.
Hampden County
The Healthy Air work in Springfield, Holyoke, Westfield and Hampden County is led by the Public Health Institute of Western MA/Pioneer Valley Asthma Coalition with participation from Live Well Springfield, the cities of Springfield and Holyoke, ReGreen Springfield, Nuestras Raices, and Hitchcock Center for the Environment.
We convene an Advisory Board of Community Resident Advisors and partner organizations to provide guidance to ensure that the process, actions, and outcomes will be informed by voices of the community members most impacted by poor air quality. Our focus is building capacity of resident advisors to participate and share leadership in understanding air pollution and addressing the impacts of climate change. We are currently recruiting new Resident Advisors in Holyoke, Springfield, and Chicopee to participate in our projects for the next year. Interested? Apply here.
We will be using a human-centered design process to build a Healthy Air Network App that will make our Healthy Air information more accessible to our community members. We have also received a T4MA grant to analyze links between poor air quality and transit and develop and implement a messaging campaign to promote public transit. More coming soon!
Hampshire County/Franklin County/North Quabbin
The Hitchcock Center for the Environment is working to expand the reach of the Healthy Air Network into rural communities in the Connecticut River Valley in Hampshire County and Franklin County, with a focus on the North Quabbin region. This rural region includes a diverse geography, including river valleys with inversions, densely settled villages and small industrial centers, and remote rural areas at higher elevations. There are community concerns about health risks related to air pollution, including from wood burning and wildfire smoke. In addition, there are concerns about whether regional air quality monitoring captures the full extent of pollution, especially given spatial variation due to geographic features (such as valley areas prone to temperature inversions which trap pollutants).
We will be increasing air sensor coverage in the North Quabbin region which encompasses the 9 towns of Athol, Orange, Erving, New Salem, Petersham, Phillipston, Royalston, Warwick, and Wendell. Sensors will be mounted on the exterior of public buildings such as town offices, non-profit organizations, public schools, small airports, community health centers, and libraries. There is currently only one air quality sensor in the North Quabbin region, located in Athol at the Millers River Environmental Education Center.
The Hitchcock Center is developing educational materials related to air quality, extreme heat, and health for students, community residents, public health providers, and community organizations. We are also recruiting and supporting youth action teams and youth leaders through the Western Mass Youth Climate Summit (WMYCS). Now in its seventh year, this participant-driven educational conference for middle and high school youth creates opportunities for learning, dialogue, and action on climate change. As a culminating project, student teams develop an action plan for their school or community, to be implemented in the coming year with support from peer youth leaders. We will be developing an action planning toolkit to support youth projects on the intersection of climate change, air quality, extreme heat, and health. More coming soon!
Massachusetts Asthma Action Partnership
The goal of Massachusetts Asthma Action Partnership/Health Resources in Action partnership is to improve environmental health in Massachusetts communities, with a focus on three Environmental Justice (EJ) communities that face significant challenges, such as pollution, racial and health disparities, and high rates of asthma and other chronic conditions. HRIA provided funding and air quality sensors to three community or faith-based organizations in different EJ communities. They involved these groups in a Learning Community and offered opportunities to join committees focused on data, research, communication, and evaluation. They featured funded organizations on the Healthy Air Network website, while also sharing their stories.
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Healthy Air Network
Healthy Air Network
The Healthy Air Network is a collaboration of organizations and community members who work to improve air quality, increase climate resilience, and advocate for environmental justice in Massachusetts. Convened by the Public Health Institute of Western Massachusetts
