Protecting Our Health in a Changing Climate

Hosted by the Pulitzer Center, Hola Cultura, and FH Faunteroy Center and Resilience Incubator

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In D.C.’s swampy summertime, some neighborhoods register temperatures 10 to 20 degrees hotter than in leafy neighborhoods. As extreme weather becomes more common, flooding risks are mounting faster than the city's infrastructure can handle. Neighborhoods east of the Anacostia River face the worst of both problems—they're more likely to flood and bear the brunt of extreme heat. This combination puts extra strain on residents' health and well-being, adding to the stress that climate change is already causing.

Join us Saturday, September 20, 2025, during National Emergency Preparedness Month, for a nature walk and discussion on addressing the daily stressors of environmental hazards. We’ll begin with a walking tour through the neighborhood and local parks to observe tree coverage and green infrastructure. Then, we’ll return to the Faunteroy Center for breakfast and further discussion. The event runs from 9:00 to 11:00am EDT. Together, we’ll learn strategies to protect your mental and physical health, and outline the infrastructural steps necessary to build a climate-resilient city.

Registration is required. Refreshments will be provided. This event is intended for audiences 15 and older; there will be activities for younger children available at the FH Faunteroy Center and Resilience Incubator.

Hola Cultura’s podcast The Climate Divide explores how, in D.C. and nationwide, past and current policies augment these environmental injustices. In reporting supported by the Pulitzer Center, Hola Cultura’s team, with the help of youth interns, mapped temperature differences across the city, tracked neighborhoods disproportionately prone to flooding, and chronicled the effects on the communities’ health. In the series' most recent season, reporters explore what crucial decisions need to be made now by the government to better prepare the District for extreme heat and floods, the two biggest climate threats in the D.C.-Maryland-Virginia region.

Panelists:

• Christine MacDonald is an investigative reporter and the executive director of Hola Cultura, a nonprofit news site in Washington, D.C.
• Dr. Estelle-Marie Montgomery is the executive director at the FH Faunteroy Center and Resilience Incubator, where her work focuses on self-determination in the community by providing consistent programming and services that are aligned with community needs through education, exposure, enrichment, and excellence while enabling resilient and sustainable outcomes.
• Dennis Chestnut is a lifetime resident of Ward 7 and the Ward 7 Resilience Hub Community Coalition. He has a passion for conservation and the environment, and has advised many community, business, and government leaders on civic ecology and civic engagement issues.