ABOUT THE PROJECT      ABOUT THE WORK     KEY SUPPORTERS

ABOUT THE PROJECT

The Maryland Environmental Health Network (MdEHN) was a Maryland Philanthropy Network Member initiative to integrate public health consciousness in environmental advocacy. This project took action to protect human health by addressing environmental policies and practices that shape the conditions for health in Maryland.

MdEHN focused on three areas:

• Climate & Energy – addressing the impacts of energy choice policy related to climate change and health;
• Vulnerable Population Health –  addressing the shifting nature of environmental threats at the population level and evaluating the pollution burden of related policy on specific communities;
• Toxics and Chemical Exposure Protections – evaluating policy that impacts exposure to chemicals and pesticides in industrial and consumer use.

ABOUT THE WORK

Strategy 1: Convening

MdEHN created space for bold and dedicated members of the environmental justice and public health movements to work together for the long term viability of Marylanders, by supporting an emergent public dialogue about the health of our shared environment and its direct relationship to human health. The Environmental Justice Legislative Team worked together to magnify community voices through the legislative process addressing environmental inequities in Maryland. The Community of Communities coalition brought groups together across Maryland fighting for basic health protections in statewide energy choice. 

Strategy 2: Advocacy

MdEHN used convening power to advocate alongside allies passing the Maryland Statewide Fracking ban, supporting the implementation of equitable processes on issues ranging from the VW Settlement to the impacts of Natural Gas Investments on community health, and spurring a shift in the state plan to regulate fugitive Methane as well as for legislation that mandated testing for lead in drinking water in schools. MdEHN also lead and supported the campaign for a Healthy Green Maryland, a constitutional amendment within our State Declaration of Rights.

Strategy 3: Translating

Over the years, MdEHN hosted Environmental Health Webinar Briefings as a multimedia educational and engagement tool to prepare legislators, health and environmental advocates, and to lift up the experiences of community members. 

KEY SUPPORTERS

• The Abell Foundation
• Bancroft Foundation
• Jacob and Hilda Blaustein Foundation
• The Campbell Foundation
• Chesapeake Bay Funders Network
•  The Chesapeake Bay Trust
• Clayton Baker Trust
• Consumer Health Foundation
• The Zanvyl and Isabelle Krieger Fund
• The Helen J. Serini Foundation
• Town Creek Foundation
• Rauch Foundation