| Sustainable Rural Communities |
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As the newest project at CRLAF, the Sustainable Rural Communities Project attempts to merge many of our organization’s longstanding direct services and advocacy issues into an approach that attacks the m
ore systemic causes of our communities’ poverty, poor health and degraded environments. The Project works toward the creation of a more sustainable food system and participatory governance for people in all communities, but especially disenfranchised or historically marginalized communities. Our advocates work to craft systemic solutions for farm-worker access to decent housing, affordable transportation, living wages, safe working conditions, and to strengthen communities’ access to clean, affordable and reliable drinking water and wastewater systems and opportunities for economic viability. Addressing the needs of disadvantaged unincorporated communities is a critical priority for the Sustainable Rural Communities Project. In 2008, CRLAF partnered with CRLA, Inc and PolicyLink for the Community Equity Initiative that attempts to address the unique needs of these communities. The Project recently brought together community-based organizations from rural communities across the state to improve how rural areas are planning for transit and investing in transit, including farmworker vanpools. In 2009, Governor Schwarzenegger signed SB 716 (Wolk), which amends the Transportation Development Act for the first time since its enactment in 1972.
Martha Guzman-Aceves, Project Director, Sustainable Communities Project
Martha has been at CRLA Foundation for over five years. Her current advocacy work has concentrated on environmental justice, occupational health and environmental hazards like heat illness and pesticide exposure. In 2003, she served as the Legislative Coordinator for the United Farm Workers, AFL-CIO covering a range of labor and environmental issues. She is currently an active member of the following organizations: the Environmental Justice Coalition for Water, where she concentrates on attaining safe and affordable drinking water and wastewater for rural communities; the Ag Innovations Network, which strives to bring food and food production back to the core of people’s lives; Pesticide Action Network North America; and the Sierra Institute. She has a M.S. in Agricultural and Resource Economics from the University of California at Davis and a B.S. in International Economics from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. |