Southeast CARE Coalition

The Southeast Community Action for a Renewed Environment (CARE) Coalition was founded in 2011 within the Southeast Development Corporation, an organization led by Mr. Linwood DeBrew, a civil rights activist and community leader in Southeast Newport News. The Southeast CARE Coalition is a grassroots, community organization guided by five core principles:

Southeast CARE Coalition Core Principles:

• For our purposes, “environment” refers to the natural (air, water, land), cultural (ethnic identity and history of community), social (existing and lacking public services), economic (local business, health care cost), and political (local, state, federal) components of the Southeast Community, Newport News, VA.
• There is a relationship between exposure to toxic pollutants and certain chronic diseases (e.g. asthma, and cardiovascular) experienced by residents of the Southeast Community of Newport News, VA.
• A scientific understanding of toxic pollutants in the community, local sources of such pollutants, and associated health risk from exposure will lead to strategies that increase awareness and generate action that reduces toxic pollutants, exposures, and risk for residents of the Southeast Community of Newport News, VA.
• Youth participation is critical to the success and sustainability of environmental efforts and actions in the Southeast Community of Newport News, VA."
• Sustainable action will lead to policy decisions that regulate toxic emissions and enforce local, State, and Federal compliance in the Southeast Community of Newport News, VA.

Dr. Erica Holloman, and Angela Harris, intensifies organizing efforts around coal dust pollution and environmental racism in Southeast Newport News.

The Southeast Asthma Network was founded as the public health arm of the Southeast Development Corporation, the organization led by Mr. DeBrew, that oversaw the Southeast CARE Coalition. The Southeast Asthma Network was a partnership with the American Lung Association, the Virginia Asthma Coalition, MOMS, a parent-led group, CINCH, a children's health group at Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk, and the Peninsula Health District.

DEQ petition for monitoring

Week-long camp for children with asthma that included an educational piece on air quality and its health impacts.

The Southeast Asthma Network was the public health arm of the Southeast Development Corporation, the organization led by Mr. DeBrew, that oversaw the Southeast CARE Coalition. The Southeast Asthma Network was a partnership with the American Lung Association, the Virginia Asthma Coalition, MOMS, a parent-led group, CINCH, a children's health group at Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk, and the Peninsula Health District.

The Southeast CARE Coalition has worked on other issues, including food accessibility and water quality.

Documents

Research

• Mansyur et al., Using Community-Based Participatory Research to Identify Environmental Justice Issues in an Inner-City Community and Inform Urban Planning, Family and Community Health, 39, 3, 169–77, 2016
• Essoka et al., A Collaborative Effort to Assess Environmental Health in Newport News, Virginia, August 2017

Media

• Lawlor, Studying the Southeast, Daily Press, February 2, 2012
• Grimes, Coalition to Hold Programs on Health, Daily Press, July 4, 2013
• Deitrich, Lawsuit Seeks to Stop U.S. Loan Guarantee for Coal Exports, Daily Press, August 1, 2013
• Salasky, Forums and Flue Shots, Daily Press, September 28, 2013
• Clift, Workshop to Help Southeast Residents Grow Health Food, Daily Press, April 3, 2015
• Clift, Garden, Continued from Page 1, Daily Press, May 11, 2015
• Clift, What's in Air in the City's Southeast?, Daily Press, June 3, 2015
• Clift, Air Continued from Page 1, Daily Press, June 3, 2015
• Thayer, Letter to the Editor, Daily Press, June 5, 2015

Thayer's Letter to the Editor, June 5, 2015: "I have lived in the Southeast Community of Newport News for 14 years. My family lived in Harbor Homes for 10 years before is was torn down. It was difficulty dealing with the coal dust coming in my windows constantly, and I wondered how it would affect my then-teenage daughter. We have moved to Ridley Circle (only a block away) and while the coal dust is not as visible, we know it is still there. I have been working with the Southeast CARE Coalition for a few months, doing whatever I can to help our neighborhood. I hope Virginia Secretary of Natural Resources Molly Ward and the Department of Environmental Quality Director David Taylor will become involved in making our neighborhood a better lace to live. Thank you for publishing articles about our dilemmas. Maybe making the problems more well known will encourage more of my neighbors to get involved."

• Lovett, Letter to the Editor, Daily Press, June 17, 2015
• Fotiou, Letter to the Editor, Daily Press, June 17, 2015
• Deitrich, Air Quality Low in Southeast Community, Daily Press, July 24, 2015
• Crawford, Letter to the Editor, Daily Press, July 27, 2015
• Witlow, Letter to the Editor, Daily Press, August 3, 2015
• Salasky, Asthma Continued from Page 1, Daily Press, August 20, 2015
• Clift, Southeast Petition Get 1000 Signatures, Daily Press, October 30, 2015
• Clift, Air Petition Delivered to State Leaders, Daily Press, December 4, 2015
• Millard, Minorities Deserve Chance Despite Neighborhood, Daily Press, January 31, 2016
• Amin, Groups Discuss Air, Water Quality, Daily Press, February 28, 2016
• Clift, Candidates Address Environmental Issues, Daily Press, April 14, 2016
• Holloman, Make Cleaner Air a Priority, Daily Press, April 27, 2026
• Clift, Air Quality Workshop, Daily Press, May 16, 2016
• Deitrich, Four Localities on Toxic Air Emissions List, Daily Press, July 29, 2016
• Clift, Bay Health Event Aims to Inspire Youths, Daily Press, August 20, 2016
• Ress, Revitalization Forum to Tackle Environmental Issues, Daily Press, September 9, 2016
• Amin, Environmental Forum, Daily Press, February 10, 2017
• Harris, We March for the Children, Daily Press, April 23, 2017
• Amin, Report: Peninsula Areas Rank Among the Most Toxic in Va. Daily Press, August 3, 2017

LaTonya Wallace Interviewed by Reema Amin, August 3, 2017: "We have our elders who work their lives... when they retire, they should be able to sit on their front porch... and breathe."

• Amin, Candidates for City Council Discuss Air Quality, Environment, Daily Press, April 15, 2018
• Amin, Environmental Justice Tour Stopping in Newport News, Daily Press, May 18, 2018