Stewards VISTA: Energy Communities OSM Prairie Rivers Net Y1

As energy opportunities expand, coal and power facility jobs are declining across the United States. This VISTA project will develop and advance programs that increase environmental awareness and stewardship, job training, employment pathways, and access to existing federal and community resources for low-income individuals living in energy transition communities. Prairie Rivers Network is an Illinois environmental non-profit with a mission to protect water, heal land, and inspire change. We work on some of the states most pressing environmental issues including coal pollution, clean energy, nutrient runoff, pesticides, wetland protection, and climate change. We foster a work environment that is collaborative, inclusive, happy, and engaging. We have a strategic goal to support coal communities in the energy transition, including addressing coal pollution and to advocating for and implementing renewable energy projects and programs. Our office is located in Champaign-Urbana and we have remote staff in five other locations around the state from Chicago to Carbondale. The project will serve low income energy communities across downstate Illinois that have had recent coal mine or plant closures and have significant acreage of Abandoned Mine Lands. We have identified six priority counties (Saline, Jackson, Randolph, Macoupin, Vermilion, and Fulton). The counties each have thousands of acres of AMLs, areas of disadvantaged communities and high poverty compared to the state of Illinois average. The VISTA will be raising community awareness and assisting communities in cleaning up abandoned mine lands. This can break the cycle of poverty by transforming polluted areas into blank slates for new opportunity. Renewable energy development and energy efficiency initiatives not only lower electricity costs for residents, but also create local jobs, attract new businesses, and drive long-term economic growth, offering a sustainable path out of poverty.