Climate Resilient Communities was first created as a program of the nonprofit Acterra, an organization with a 50-year history of building community-oriented solutions to environmental problems. At its inception, Climate Resilient Communities was a volunteer-driven commitment to helping residents reduce their energy costs, improve home health, and gain access to local resources like subsidized solar panels and home energy audits, and weatherization upgrades. “Our goal all along was to help build residents’ knowledge on conserving energy and water in the home, which makes both financial and environmental sense.” said Violet Saena, the Director and Founder of Climate Resilient Communities.

Climate Resilient Communities officially branched off as its own organization dedicated to uplifting the Peninsula’s underrepresented communities in September 2020, becoming a fully independent 501(c)(3) in January 2023. This transition allowed CRC to expand its offerings and help provide community-based solutions that center local voices to empower community action.

CRC’s work stems from recognition of the fact that in the Bay Area, as throughout the world, under-resourced communities are disproportionately vulnerable to climate change impacts. Since 2016 Climate Resilient Communities has been on the ground learning the specific needs of residents in diverse, under-resourced communities in East Palo Alto and Belle Haven (Menlo Park). Our outreach cultivates environmental awareness while giving local residents a voice in proactive resilience planning and adaptation. By building stronger alliances between residents, schools, local government programs and community-based organizations, this work creates resilience against climate-related stresses such as sea-level rise and economic instability.