Medford program strengthens social support systems to address climate resilience

In the latest round of Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness funding, Medford received a $750,000 grant that will be used to expand Medford Connects, an initiative that strengthens social systems to help build climate resilience.

Created in 2020 using an earlier MVP grant, Medford Connects is building a network of city departments and agencies, and community service providers, to support marginalized communities so they can better withstand and recover from the impacts of climate crises, with the goal of a more equitable and resilient city.

“As the effects of climate change continue to impact many aspects of daily life, we’re working to create a more resilient community, and the MVP grant funding has been critical to strengthening those efforts,” said Mayor Breanna Lungo-Koehn in a statement. “We have been able to build a robust Medford Connects program that will be able to support and engage communities before, during and after climate emergencies.”

The initiative has now received four rounds of MVP funding. The latest grant will be used to support the community engagement team, formalize the network of community organizations, and create a virtual resource center.

“The new round of funding is looking at climate vulnerability when we talk about exposure sensitivity and adaptive capacity,” said Prevention and Outreach Manager Catherine Dhingra. “That’s really looking at race and ethnicity, financial resources, information access, social networks and housing demographics. Those are our key ways of looking at how our vulnerable communities are going to be adaptive in the changing climate, and how we can build that infrastructure.”

The program support team consists of “Medford Connectors” and “Community Liaisons” that engage with community members. Liaisons support wide community efforts with health and social vulnerabilities, for example connecting residents with SNAP benefits or MassHealth, while Connectors work with specific initiatives and have a focus on financial stability, older adults, food systems, youngest families or English language learning communities. Team members are able to provide multilingual support to residents.

“You can’t be healthy and well and be resilient if you don’t have your basic needs and a network to help you,” Dhingra said. “We were recognizing that people were not connected to these systems, and that they weren’t going to approach these systems without a warm connection.”

For example, after the program partnered with the library to offer English language classes, Dhingra said residents became aware of all that the library had to offer.

“They all got library cards after the class,” she said. “They started to use the library as a resource to connect them to job searching, connect them to resources for their children. And then when we had a heat event, they knew to go to the library, because that was a place they could get cool and get resources.”

Program funding for the current fiscal year is focused on continuing to build physical resilience hubs, Dhingra said, but there is also a focus on building out an online support system, including a robust virtual resiliency hub and language-based WhatsApp channels and social media channels.

“We had a climate emergency this summer and our connecters were able to take the city’s communications, translate them, and push it out through social channels,” Dhingra said. “So the online resiliency hub is another key piece of it.”

Dhingra noted that she first became aware of Medford Connects while working for the town of Wakefield, where she used the model to create a scaled-down version that fit the town’s needs.

“Really take a look at what the community needs, and bring these folks on as part of your municipal staff,” Dhingra said. “It really helps to bring a two-way voice. It’s addressing that gap for people, but it’s also connecting people with their elected officials. … So when issues come up with climate change, they know exactly who to go to.”