In 2002, homeless and unemployed residents of Baltimore founded United Workers Association (UWA, Norman grantee 2010–2021) as a human rights organization focused on ending poverty. They built a grassroots base of over 3,000 members that won increased wages for homeless temporary workers who cleaned the Camden Yards stadium; secured over 1,000 union jobs for the construction of a casino; and prevented a fire station and recreation center from closing due to austerity measures.

One of UWA’s most significant victories came when youth organizers from its Free Your Voice program launched a campaign to block construction of the nation’s largest trash incinerator in Baltimore’s Curtis Bay, a highly industrialized neighborhood that already had high mortality rates from respiratory disease, lung cancer, and heart disease. The incinerator was sited to be built less than a mile from two schools and would have burned 4,000 tons of trash every day, releasing 240 pounds of mercury and 1,000 pounds of lead annually. When Free Your Voice youth discovered that Baltimore City Public Schools (BCPS), local nonprofits, and city government agencies had signed agreements to purchase energy from the incinerator, they raised residents’ awareness of the negative health impacts of the incinerator, and successfully advocated for BCPS to withdraw their purchasing agreement in 2015, setting off a ripple effect where all 22 customers ultimately canceled their contracts. In 2016, youth organizer Destiny Watford was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize for her role in the campaign, bringing national attention to the environmental injustices faced by low-income Baltimore residents whose concerns had long been sidelined to make way for polluting industries. Today, UWA continues to organize at the intersection of housing, environmental justice, and economic development, and recently helped to establish Baltimore’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund that creates and preserves affordable housing through community land trusts.

Tags: Climate Justice, Economic Justice, Environmental Justice, Health, Housing Justice, Youth Organizing

More information:

• Video by Goldman Environmental Prize: Destiny Watford, 2016 Goldman Prize Winner