Justin schott detroit

EcoWorks was in a financially fragile state at the time, and all concerned thought it seemed prudent for Schott to step into the role because of his experience with the organization.

The environmental movement has a history of not being inclusive , but in recent years, environmental organizations have become more proactive about recruiting staff of color and cultivating leaders. Many are coming to the conclusion that the fate of people of color and the fate of the climate are inextricably entwined.

Getting serious about racial justice and equity means, as a minimal starting point, that we can no longer dance around the issue, we have to address it directly and transparently. EcoWorks is now embarking on an open search process. Share this article on:.

Nina Ignaczak Nina Misuraca Ignaczak is an award-winning journalist and documentary filmmaker. I really loved that work; I was having a great time. You do this work well. I spent time in New York City. That was my thought. I connected with a small environmental nonprofit called Voices for Justice. We ran a couple of small programs at the youth energy squad there. Then connected with some staff at EcoWorks, which was then warm training center background in , In fact, that organization was a really good home.

Interviewer: Tell us a little about EcoWorks. What its goal is and how water basically becomes a part of its goal? Justin: We got started in with the goal of helping to form and support worker-owned co-ops that would be bringing more energy efficient and more green building practices. We did a lot of education around that, a lot of teaching people low and no cost things that they can do to save energy and have continued to expand by bringing in appliance replacement program.

It is how does this make individual alliance, or neighborhoods, or communities better? How does that help us to progress toward a more just world? Each of those neighborhoods has a strong desire to see sustainability be part of their future development. Interviewer: Great. In terms of water education workshops, tell us a little bit about that. Justin: We were part of a number of conversations and this blue-ribbon panel that I mentioned that was advocating for affordability.

These were a number of activists in that , timeframe. This happened after the Great Lakes Water Authority was formed. There was four and a half million a year set aside for the water residential assistance program. We teamed up with the community action agencies in the area. Primarily, Wayne Metro and put together a proposal that was— either works with leading the conservation piece of this. That was combining home education, water audits, fixture upgrades, and any plumbing repair that people needed.

Over the course of two and a half years, starting in summer , we saw about people with that, all of them receiving those in-home services.

Interviewer: Did you mass produce or create any source of information kits, or tools, or things like that? We had spaces with larger audiences, but a lot of it really needed to happen in homes. We had water educators that were out doing three or four visits a day. They were able to fix over half the plumbing repairs on their own.

Just getting good at that, but then we had a plumber who was contracted and would go out and do the bigger repairs from there. How do you see your role? That informs a lot of the ideas that we have and a lot of the solutions.

We do our own pre and post bill analysis. We have some data that we can contribute when thinking about if you were to set here a few different affordability options, what are the costs and benefits? We have numbers to work with. Then, I think continuing to elevate the issue in whatever way we can. People are actually willing to pay a little bit above that. I think being able to impose some of those narratives or to undo some of the myths that are out there with evidence is an important role for eco works.

Interviewer: I know you were partners with Dr. Justin: I know it was more than half. Meaning they were always too expensive and maybe once a year, there was a cycle of getting an assistance payment that would pay down one of those bills.

Until that happened, they can never keep up with both at the same time. We have other information about other bills that they would switch back and forth. I think that the finding that nobody was asking for free water and specifically we had, I think, different tiers of what people could be paying. There were all these undertones of racism that were there and that led, I think, in part to the court decision and the different rates that we have now and Detroiters being responsible for this aging infrastructure that runs hundreds of miles outside the city.

Yes, I think we really need to change the narrative and the more we have evidence and not just speculation behind that, the better.

Interviewer: I really appreciate your role as being one that works with many of these events, organizations, and groups simultaneously. Justin: I think it can create challenges on both sides.

Are we trying to undermine their work? Are we really loyal allies? I did appreciate that. Can you tell us a little bit about— You mentioned some of your various programs, your tools, and your initiatives?

What seems to be working well for you on the ground? Where do you see yourself perhaps changing or tweaking moving forward? Justin: I think none of this work is super easy or super convenient. I think being able to offer that as a trusted partner is really valuable and understanding that it takes people a while, I think to gain their own capacity to run sustainability programs or just to live sustainably.

Yes, I think making sure the relationships are deep and lasting. We see with students. Still we work with students on a weekly basis and their green teams, and then high school students can get summer jobs with us and then come back for a second year. Actually, some more funding or emphasis placed on water securities and the whole bunch of new bills which will probably not get passed, but they are on the big table again.

What are your thoughts about the movement, I guess, on the other states? Justin: I would certainly expect to see more change. I think we actually had a really great suite of bills that Stephanie Chang and some others had worked to put together in response to Flint.

I would hope to see some of that. I think that is probably the number one myth that needs to get corrected. That seems like a really important starting point that people just to understand the facts and the history of how we got to these different rates. Probably not. This is an engineering problem. Interviewer: How do you engage local community members especially people who are probably stuck in these cycles of need and not having enough as is?

We just some education and more around A, this is an aesthetic benefit eventually that some people learned through the way, lots of Detroiters are just into gardening, right? Also, from the economic side that yes, there are credits from doing this and that, maybe motivation to do it. Coming back to the last question I did want to say we did a survey of about 7, Detroiters or maybe we got survey responses back. This is for the sustainability action agenda; the sustainability plan that Detroit is developing now.

The number one concern that people raised there out of about 50, housing affordability was actually utility affordability. You just have to go out and ask. I think last year, that got their weatherization funds. Am I supposed to figure this out on my own?

Interviewer: From my understanding of what you do in EcoWorks is you span so many different boundari e s, and boundaries of working with community organizations, community organizers, government officials, and engineers, for instance, who are working on the infrastructure at stake.

What is one key misperception that each group has about the other? I do like that framing of EcoWorks spanning these many layers. They talked about moving people out of the less densely populated neighborhoods to downtown, and midtown, and there were details on how that would happen. Are my city services going to get cut?

Then the meetings were not well facilitated. There was a voice of God that was responding to questions, and nobody actually upfront who could be addressed. Anyway, that did not go over well-. Justin: — it left a bad taste. People just need to tap into it.