The climate revolución has begun. On April 30, our Annual Awards Celebration, Climate Revolución, recognized this movement and the community voices leading the charge for clean air and transportation justice in our region. 

With EHC members, neighbors, allies, friends, fellow advocates, business owners, sponsors and elected officials, we celebrated the Climate Revolución and EHC's 35th Anniversary with an incredible night of inspiration, awards, laughter and of course, selfies. 

A sold out crowd spent Thursday evening helping us recognize community members, organizations and elected officials leading the charge to revolutionize clean air and transporation justice policies. These heroes include:

2015 Healthy Neighborhoods Champion Award:

• City Heights Built Environment Team and City Heights Community Action Team. 
  City Heights Community Development Corporation, Associación de Liderazgo Communitaria, International Rescue Committee, Marco Montiel, Esperanza Gonzalez, Martha Patty Rosales, Delfina Guzman, Melanie Azvedo, Sallie Lemmie, Tuong Cong Bui, Christy Tran, Trong Dinh and Lam Truong.
  
  EHC has worked with these groups of community residents and organizations dedicated to improving City Heights for the past four years to develop a Community Driven Action Plan. The group chose to focus on advancing transportation justice and has focused on the Mid-City Bike Corridor, street improvements and demanding an equitable Regional Transportation Plan.

2015 Environmental Champion Award:

• Cleveland National Forest Foundation and Sierra Club
  These organizations have effectively used legal strategy to challenge inequitable transportation and climate action plans at the local and regional level. The organizations won an appeals court ruling against SANDAG’s inequitable and inadequate 2012 Regional Transportation Plan and Sierra Club won a ruling that will force the County of San Diego to strengthen its inadequate Climate Action Plan.
• SanDiego350
  An all-volunteer action group, SanDiego350 organized the massive People’s Climate March in 2014, attracting more than 1,500 San Diegans passionate about taking action on climate change and joining more than 2,000 similar events around the world. The organization also worked side-by-side with EHC to defeat two power plants: Quail Brush and Pio Pico.

2015 Spirit of Justice Award:

• Todd Gloria and David Alvarez
  

  Both Gloria and Alvarez have worked tirelessly to bring environmental justice to overburdened communities and to the San Diego region.

  During Gloria’s term as interim Mayor, he completed the draft Climate Action Plan with an emphasis on substantial expansion of renewable energy, alternative transportation, energy efficiency measures, greenhouse gas reduction and social equity.

  Alvarez has been a courageous advocate for healthy neighborhoods, including reducing pollution and the impacts of climate change. He advanced a City Council-approved resolution to move the City of San Diego Climate Action Plan forward when it was stalled.

View photos from the event of on Facebook here.

A video to announce the awardees and ignite our shared passion for climate justice highlighted the celebration.

Toni Atkins couldn't attend in person, but sent her support of the Revolución and all the award winners via video. 

Using the hashtag #climaterevolución to capture moments, our guests helped document the evening one photo at a time.

Click here to view what our guests said about the #climaterevolucion.

Even when the event was over, the Climate Revolución remained inspiring. An email from San Diego City College Student Health Services perfectly captures the feeling we were hoping to ignite.

"Thank you so much for the invitation to join you and my City Colleagues at the incredible celebration and fund-raiser for EHC. It was terrific to learn of the social justice and empowerment work by this incredible agency!As a pediatric nurse for > 20 years, I saw poor children come into the hospital in much greater numbers for asthma, respiratory illnesses. I attributed it at the time to lack of continuous well-child care, lack of money for treatments/meds…what I did not consider nor learn about until last night was the significant neighborhood pollution and other environmental impacts of underrepresented populations in their communities. I had looked at their respiratory problems from the single lens of medical care, not incorporating the important contributions of the environment. Again, I had taught families about pets and pillows and allergans impacting breathing, but had forgotten about the air they breathe in their communities, and that it is likely very different from the air I breathe, though we both live in SD.

I can’t thank you enough for allowing me to become part of this organization’s work and for opening my eyes. I am learning. Thank you!"

Thank you to all our sponsors, including: Pacifica Companies, San Diego County Regional Airport Authority, San Diego Convention Center, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Port of San Diego, the California Endowment, Planned Parenthood of the Pacific Southwest, the United Food & Commercial Workers Union Local 135, Pala Band of Mission Indians, Manpower - Linda and Mel Katz, Blue Summit Wealth Management, ECOR - Noble Environmental Technologies, San Diego and Imperial Counties Labor Council, UC San Diego Health Systems, and Ryan Brothers Coffee.

We can't say thank you enough to everyone who attended, contributed and volunteered for the Climate Revolución and the fight for cleain air and transportation justice in our region. We are humbled and honored to know and work with all of you. See you next year, and viva la Revolución!