The Omaha Healthy Kids Alliance has been selected to receive a $200,000 grant from EPA’s Environmental Education Grant Program to develop and implement a comprehensive environmental education program specifically designed to reach the city’s under-served Spanish-speaking Latino community. The Omaha Healthy Kids Alliance (OHKA), a nonprofit organization, has a mission of bringing awareness and education to local families about environmental hazards, healthy homes, lead poisoning and energy efficiency. OHKA will partner with the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) College of Public Health to implement the Grassroots Latino Environmental Education (GLEE) project, a two-year comprehensive community grassroots environmental education program focusing on indoor environmental issues, indoor air quality, household toxic chemical safety, and healthy housing.
GLEE’s outreach model will develop an environmental education curriculum and train community based organizations and “promotores,” or local members of the community and Latino culture, as key, trusted educators. By creating strong local partnerships among different organizations working with Omaha’s Latino community, GLEE will provide the necessary tools for Latinos to build greater awareness in the community and promote behavioral changes resulting in healthier environments, particularly for low-income Spanish-speaking Latino families.
Learn more about the Omaha Healthy Kids Alliance at www.omahahealthykids.org.
Learn more about the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) at www.unmc.edu.