Program lets residents prioritize environment concerns
A new community-based program designed to identify and solve environmental problems in a five-county area in Southeast Nebraska is looking for volunteers.
“We want citizens interested in voicing their concerns — people who are interested in shaping responses to the environmental problems in their community,” project coordinator Kimberly Plouzek said Monday.
Public Health Solutions, based in Crete, is organizing the grassroots effort, using a $86,500 Community Action for a Renewed Environment or CARE grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. CARE, a pilot program, is designed to help communities identify and address critical local environmental issues like toxic risks and water quality.
Plouzek said the CARE program is truly grassroots because it will be citizens identifying problems and coming up with solutions — and not federal, state or local governmental agencies.
“This is the only platform where citizens actually have a strong voice and the strongest power to affect the problems that they see,” Plouzek said.
Residents of communities in Fillmore, Gage, Jefferson, Saline and Thayer counties — the area covered by Public Health Solutions — are encouraged to volunteer, said Plouzek, who also serves as emergency response coordinator for the group.
Interested persons are expected to make a two-year commitment to the project, she said. There will be two to four meetings a year.
“We would like to have a representative from each community,” Plouzek said. “We won’t turn anybody away.”
Plouzek said her agency will help gather information and facilitate discussions. Working groups, which will represent each county, will prioritize the environmental problems in their areas. A second phase would involve applying for funds to fix those problems.
DEQ spokesman Rich Webster said the state agency supports the CARE program but will not play a significant role in carrying it out. Those responsibilities will go to state and local health agencies.
Public Health Solutions was established in 2002 to provide local public health assurance, assess community health status, and provide leadership on health-related policy development for those five counties.
Reach Algis J. Laukaitis at (402) 473-7243 or alaukaitis@journalstar.com.
“We want citizens interested in voicing their concerns — people who are interested in shaping responses to the environmental problems in their community,” project coordinator Kimberly Plouzek said Monday.
Public Health Solutions, based in Crete, is organizing the grassroots effort, using a $86,500 Community Action for a Renewed Environment or CARE grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. CARE, a pilot program, is designed to help communities identify and address critical local environmental issues like toxic risks and water quality.
Plouzek said the CARE program is truly grassroots because it will be citizens identifying problems and coming up with solutions — and not federal, state or local governmental agencies.
“This is the only platform where citizens actually have a strong voice and the strongest power to affect the problems that they see,” Plouzek said.
Residents of communities in Fillmore, Gage, Jefferson, Saline and Thayer counties — the area covered by Public Health Solutions — are encouraged to volunteer, said Plouzek, who also serves as emergency response coordinator for the group.
Interested persons are expected to make a two-year commitment to the project, she said. There will be two to four meetings a year.
“We would like to have a representative from each community,” Plouzek said. “We won’t turn anybody away.”
Plouzek said her agency will help gather information and facilitate discussions. Working groups, which will represent each county, will prioritize the environmental problems in their areas. A second phase would involve applying for funds to fix those problems.
DEQ spokesman Rich Webster said the state agency supports the CARE program but will not play a significant role in carrying it out. Those responsibilities will go to state and local health agencies.
Public Health Solutions was established in 2002 to provide local public health assurance, assess community health status, and provide leadership on health-related policy development for those five counties.
Reach Algis J. Laukaitis at (402) 473-7243 or alaukaitis@journalstar.com.
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