切尔西,麻萨诸塞州

Everett, Massachusetts, is the New England Produce Center, whose 35 tenants sell fruits and vegetables that are distributed to stores throughout New England and beyond.

All of this activity means pollutants in Chelsea’s air exceed by 20 percent levels the EPA deems safe. The city has the highest asthma hospitalization rates in Massachusetts, and among the highest hospitalization rates for heart attacks and stroke.

But Bongiovanni, executive director of the environmental justice group GreenRoots, and others in the city are tackling these challenges collaboratively and aggressively, working to make Chelsea a greener place, and, therefore, a healthier one. Among the successes to date:

• Reducing diesel emissions: Efforts involving the New England Produce Center, Eastern Salt Company, Shapiro Produce, the City of Chelsea, Global Petroleum and Alliance Express have replaced dozens of diesel engines with cleaner electric engines to power trucks and refrigerated trailer units. The result has been 2,000 tons fewer of harmful pollutants released into Chelsea’s air each year and 400,000 fewer gallons of fuel burned. The facility is “becoming very green,” says Peter D’Arrigo Jr., produce center president and CEO of produce distributor D’Arrigo Brothers Company of Massachusetts.

 

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Roseann Bongiovanni是马萨诸塞州切尔西市的居民，她是意大利移民的女儿和孙女，她想象着有一天，这座三面环水的城市的海岸线会变成一条由公园、小径和盐沼组成的“翡翠项链”。

她挑战了人们的看法，即切尔西只是一个粗糙、人口密集的城市，被工业和交通以及随之而来的健康影响所窒息。

当然，有两条繁忙的大道穿过这座城市，它坐落在波士顿的托宾桥对面。切尔西河(Chelsea Creek)滨水区有7个散装石油储存终端，以及等待用卡车运往该地区300多个城市的盐。横跨切尔西和埃弗雷特,马萨诸塞州这里有35位租户出售水果和蔬菜，这些水果和蔬菜被分销到新英格兰及其他地区的商店。

所有这些活动意味着切尔西空气中的污染物超过了环保署认为安全水平的20%。这座城市是马萨诸塞州哮喘住院率最高的城市，也是心脏病和中风住院率最高的城市之一。

但是，环境正义组织“绿根”(GreenRoots)的执行董事邦乔瓦尼和这座城市的其他人正在积极合作应对这些挑战，努力使切尔西成为一个更绿色的地方，从而成为一个更健康的地方。迄今为止取得的成功包括:

• 减少柴油排放当前位置新英格兰生产中心、东部盐业公司、夏皮罗生产公司、切尔西市、全球石油公司和联盟快递公司的努力已经将数十台柴油发动机替换为更清洁的电动发动机，为卡车和冷藏拖车提供动力。其结果是每年减少了2000吨有害污染物排放到切尔西的空气中，减少了400,000加仑的燃料燃烧。生产中心总裁兼马萨诸塞州农产品分销商达里戈兄弟公司首席执行官小彼得·达里戈说，该工厂正在“变得非常绿色”。

Engaging future leaders: Youth on GreenRoots’ Environmental Chelsea Organizers (ECO) team have surveyed community members about environmental health concerns, developed an environmental justice curriculum for Chelsea schools, and joined a successful effort to create reduced fare public transit passes for Boston-area youth.

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• 合作开发海滨:“绿根”和海军上将山(Admiral’s Hill)社区的开发商兼码头所有者凯文·萨巴(Kevin Saba)之间曾经是敌对关系，但如今已结成联盟，建立在创造公共空间、增强城市抵御气候变化影响的能力、保护和利用盐沼等共同利益的基础上。在萨巴的房产可以俯瞰的岛尾河(Island End River)的一小段地段，他开发了棚架走道和新的凸起的木板路，让公众可以从他的房产进入一块曾经空置的、如今已成为公园的市属地块。萨巴还为该市的经济适用房信托基金做出了贡献，该基金服务于整个切尔西。这是通过Saba和GreenRoots之间的和解协议实现的。
• 吸引未来的领导者当前位置绿色青年组织的环境切尔西组织者(ECO)团队就环境健康问题对社区成员进行了调查，为切尔西的学校制定了环境正义课程，并成功地为波士顿地区的年轻人创建了廉价公共交通通行证。

Making healthy food choices easier: Chelsea’s 2015 ban on the use of artificial trans-fats—which can increase risk of heart disease, stroke, and Type 2 diabetes—in its restaurants and corner and grocery stores made it the first U.S. community to be 100 percent trans-fat free. Before enacting the ban, the Chelsea Board of Health worked with food suppliers to make trans-fat-free alternatives easily available to restaurants, and the Healthy Chelsea Coalition, supported by Massachusetts General Hospital, went door-to-door showing owners how to comply. In addition, middle and high school students interning with Healthy Chelsea’s Youth Food Movement team, worked to give their peers more healthy lunch choices in Chelsea schools. For example, they’ve helped the school district’s food-service provider develop healthier recipes, tested them with students, and marketed new menu choices on social media.

Working toward secure and affordable housing for all: The Health Starts at Home Initiative at MGH Chelsea HealthCare Center screens patients for housing instability. Those at risk of homelessness are referred to CONNECT, a multi-agency program that helps people find jobs, manage finances and secure stable housing.

Tackling substance use: City government and its partners work together to offer wrap-around services as alternatives to incarceration. The city has also trained citizens how to respond in the event a family member or friend overdoses on opioids. They learn how to administer NARCAN (naloxone), the emergency medicine used to reverse overdoses.

Bolstering immigrant and refugee health: Chelsea’s city council declared it a “sanctuary city” in 2007, essentially preventing law enforcement from asking about immigration status and ensuring everyone in Chelsea feels welcome and able to become civically involved. At MGH Chelsea HealthCare Center, bilingual community health workers help patients who have come from countries such as Somalia, Bosnia and Nepal navigate the U.S. health care system and overcome barriers to receiving care.

Addressing trauma: Because so many residents have lived in poverty or faced violence either here or in their countries of origin, Healthy Chelsea is leading an effort to become a trauma-sensitive city with a culture of understanding the long- and short-term effects of trauma on mental and physical health. The first step, says Jennifer Kelly, director of Healthy Chelsea, is training teachers, students, first responders, and staff and tenants of public housing on the effects of trauma and how to help those who have been traumatized. Next on the agenda will be updating city policies and procedures.

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切尔西正在努力让自己变得更健康:

• 让选择健康食物更容易:切尔西在2015年禁止在餐馆、街角和杂货店使用人工反式脂肪，这种脂肪会增加心脏病、中风和2型糖尿病的风险，这使切尔西成为美国第一个100%无反式脂肪的社区。在颁布这项禁令之前，切尔西健康委员会与食品供应商合作，让餐馆很容易获得无反式脂肪的替代品，而在马萨诸塞州总医院的支持下，健康切尔西联盟挨家挨户地向老板们展示如何遵守这项禁令。此外，在“健康切尔西”青年食品运动团队实习的初高中学生，努力为切尔西学校的同龄人提供更健康的午餐选择。例如，他们帮助学区的食品服务提供商开发更健康的食谱，在学生中进行测试，并在社交媒体上推广新的菜单选择。
• 努力为所有人提供安全和负担得起的住房:MGH切尔西医疗保健中心的健康始于家庭倡议筛查患者的住房不稳定。那些有无家可归风险的人被称为CONNECT，这是一个多机构项目，帮助人们找到工作，管理财务和获得稳定的住房。
• 处理药物使用问题:市政府及其合作伙伴共同努力，提供全面的服务，作为监禁的替代方案。该市还培训市民在家庭成员或朋友过量服用阿片类药物时如何应对。他们学习如何使用纳洛酮，这是一种用于逆转过量用药的紧急药物。
• 加强移民和难民健康:切尔西市议会在2007年宣布其为“庇护城市”，基本上防止执法部门询问移民身份，并确保切尔西的每个人都感到受欢迎，能够参与公民事务。在MGH切尔西医疗中心，双语社区医疗工作者帮助来自索马里、波斯尼亚和尼泊尔等国家的患者了解美国的医疗体系，克服接受医疗服务的障碍。
• 解决创伤:由于这里或原籍国有如此多的居民生活在贫困中或面临暴力，健康切尔西正在努力成为一个对创伤敏感的城市，拥有一种理解创伤对身心健康的长期和短期影响的文化。“健康切尔西”的负责人珍妮弗·凯利(Jennifer Kelly)说，第一步是培训教师、学生、急救人员、工作人员和公共住房的租户，让他们了解创伤的影响，以及如何帮助那些受到创伤的人。下一个议程将是更新城市政策和程序。