HEALTHY AIR PROGRAM
Breathe healthy and be healthy
SDEV helps residents push for cleaner air rules and helps businesses and institutions directly cut pollution from their operations. In 1991, residents and the business community in Southwest Detroit developed the Southwest Detroit Environmental Vision Project. Since then, SDEV has worked on community priorities for a healthier environment. Residents want to see air pollution stop. The big sources of air pollution in and near Southwest Detroit are factories and general industry (like cement, steel, wastewater treatment) as well as cars and trucks. SDEV's initiatives deliver on these community priorities to create healthier air and to help residents lessen the impact of pollution on their health and homes. Through this work, we're lessening pollution that triggers asthma, that's linked with heart disease and cancer, and that is adding to the climate crisis. Join us to make a difference in your community!
Our Department
Meet our amazing Healthy Air Team! Maggie Striz Calnin is our Healthy Air Program Manager. Maria Cercone is our Clean Diesel Initiative Project Manager. Sarah Chung, Manar Zoulfikar, Damien Sutton, and Elspeth Muzzin are our Healthy Air Interns from the University of Michigan and Wayne State University.
Learn more about them below:
Left to right: Maria Cercone, Maggie Striz Calnin, Sarah Chung
Healthy Air Initiatives
Community Action for Positive Change
SDEV’s Healthy Air Program team creates opportunities for community action to make positive change. We get residents the information needed to speak truth to power. Residents live the experience of illness and quality of life concerns related to pollution in Southwest and nearby. Residents have the knowledge and the voice to call for change. SDEV makes it easier for residents to stay aware of and engaged in decision-making on pollution permits, truck routing, and air pollution violations - to name a few - so that the community can engage early and often in decision-making at City Council, the State of Michigan, and with federal agencies.
Healthy Business & Institutions Initiative
SDEV welcomes the earnest involvement of businesses and other institutions toward positive change for the environment and public health. Businesses and institutions whose operations impact Southwest Detroit are invited to contact SDEV to learn more about how to address emissions, contribute to pollution mitigation efforts, and take part in meaningful dialogue and action on environmental justice and environmental racism.