No one knows the struggle of living with toxic pollution like the people who face this challenge everyday. Environmental Health Coalition believes that those affected should have the opportunity to raise their own voices to demand change. That’s why much of our work takes place in low-income communities of color in the San Diego-Tijuana Region.

In these communities, among the poorest in the region, residents bear a disproportionate pollution burden, with record asthma hospitalization rates and long-term consequences like cancer and heart disease. Many residents are immigrants from Latin America, Asia and Africa, and many have little formal education.

Problems in these communities are common to many low-income communities of color: substandard housing, over-crowded schools, a lack of social services, low-paid jobs, polluting industries mixed with residential and commercial sites, industrial truck traffic, lack of parks and healthy food outlets, severe air pollution and lead contamination in aging housing stock.

On behalf of and with these low-income communities of color, we work at the local, regional, state, national and international levels to educate policy makers about opportunities that will accomplish our goals and benefit low-income communities. We share our models, learn from others, and promote environmental justice policies at every level of government.