Our Legacy Nebraska
Our Legacy Nebraska is built on the foundation of our Common Ground Program. Our Legacy Nebraska works with community members in communities affected by environmental injustices. The program develops leadership and offers participants support in one-on-one coaching sessions, mini-grants, and training sessions. Communities involved include Lexington, Grand Island, Omaha, and South Sioux City.
This is a three-year program. Year 1 is focused on training to develop members' skills in community organizing. Year 2 involves members organizing community events such as letter writing, assemblies, petitions, clean-ups, etc. Year 3 is continued community organizing and leaving behind a legacy of environmental justice advocacy.
Participants are paid $20 per hour during training sessions. Training sessions are in person or virtually depending on weather and timing. Sessions go for about 2-3 hours and are held once per month. Meals are provided. We try to accommodate and work with participants' schedules.
Benefits of Our Legacy Nebraska Include:
- Community Organizing training and development
- $20 per hour during training
- Mini-grant funds for organizing efforts
- Meals provided during training
- Increase knowledge of environmental justice in Nebraska
Communities Impacted
Residents living in these communities are disproportionally impacted by many issues which can include: air and water pollution, lead poisoning, safe and affordable housing, infrastructure issues, and more.
Current Work
Already our cohorts are hard at work developing strategies and campaigns to address these issues. In Omaha, our cohort is working on creating a centralized portal for all things related to lead. Omaha is home to the largest Lead EPA Superfund site in the United States and our team is making sure we decrease the levels of lead poisoning.
In Lexington, our team is working on creating a Welcoming Kit for incoming and current residents. Many services and important information are only available in English, so our team is working to create a Welcoming Kit that includes information like how to set up and pay utilities, how to dispose of waste properly, tenet rights, getting connected with your community, and more in different languages.
Apply Today!
Interested parties should complete the form below. We are always accepting applications for next year's participants. However, we could be in the middle of training a new cohort in your community so it may be our next program round before we review participants. For any questions about the program and application process, please contact Favian Mendez at fmendez@necv.org.
