By Texas Southern University Newsroom
The Robert D. Bullard Center for Environmental and Climate Justice at Texas Southern University has received $250,000 from JP Morgan Chase to help Houston and its most vulnerable neighborhoods deal with the disproportionate impact of an increased pace of natural disasters.
“Our work will focus on hurricanes, floods, and pandemics,” said Dr. Robert Bullard, distinguished professor of Urban Planning and Environment Policy at TSU and founding director of the Center for Environmental and Climate Justice. “We will learn from the cumulative hardships these communities continue to experience, determine what is needed to evacuate or stay in place and who should disseminate this valuable information.”
The grant will establish a virtual information hub that will help Houston residents living in neighborhoods that are vulnerable to recurring flooding. TSU is working collaboratively with those communities to create their own disaster preparedness plans. The work will include information for COVID-19 prevention.
“Texas Southern is proud of Dr. Bullard’s environmental work and grateful for this generous support from JP Morgan Chase,” said TSU President Lesia L. Crumpton-Young. “The Center’s work stands at the vanguard of developing critical policy in the climate and environmental arenas.”
This gift is a part of JPMorgan Chase’s nearly $1.5 million commitment to five local community projects to help prepare the Houston region for natural disasters.
“The distressed and underserved neighborhoods of Houston are struggling to prepare for the impact of future storms,” said Meredith Beaupre, managing director and Market Leader for JPMorgan Chase in Houston. “Chase has a long track record of supporting Houston in good times and in bad. JPMorgan Chase wants to take a proactive approach to help our most vulnerable communities with the resiliency they need to prepare for and mitigate future disasters.”
Building on JPMorgan Chase’s efforts to advance sustainable solutions, new philanthropic investments aim to help Houston communities prepare for and rebound from the impacts of disasters by funding workforce training focused on the needs of the energy sector, green infrastructure design and enhancement, community-led disaster response planning and programming.
