City of Eunice Among Three Communities in the U.S. to Receive Federal Grant

EUNICE - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently announced that the City of Eunice, Louisiana, will receive technical assistance through the Building Blocks for Sustainable Communities program.

The EPA developed the Building Blocks for Sustainable Communities program in 2011 when it recognized that many communities needed tools to help achieve their desired development goals, improve quality of life, and become more economically and environmentally sustainable. The Building Blocks program delivers quick, targeted technical assistance to communities in order to stimulate a discussion about growth and development and strengthen local capacity to implement sustainable approaches.

The program is organized around a series of tools, including presentations and exercises to help facilitate discussion, data or information from the community that can be analyzed to help drive the conversation, and an action-oriented process that leads to a set of potential next steps. Communities apply for technical assistance related to these tools, which is then delivered by EPA staff and EPA-hired consultant teams.

The Leveraging Cultural Anchor Institutions tool, for which Eunice was selected, serves to help communities that seek to reimagine or revitalize the neighborhoods surrounding an established cultural anchor institution, address an environmental or human health challenge through the anchor institution, or help think about better connecting institutions.

The City of Eunice will work with a designated team of federal experts to provide the community with a better understanding of its needs as well as best practices to promote equity as the City of Eunice continues to grow.

Between August 16^th and August 18^th, the City of Eunice, in partnership with the U.S. EPA, Louisiana State University - Eunice, and the Association for the Liberty Theater will host a series of three workshops.

The public is invited to join for any or all of the following sessions:

August 16^th, 2021; 11 AM – 1 PM (CDT)

Session 1: Public Session | Where are we now and where do we want to be?      

August 17^th, 2021; 9 AM –11 AM (CDT)

Session 2: Stakeholder Work Session | What do we want to happen?

August 18^th, 2021; 9 AM – 11 AM (CDT)

Session 3: Stakeholder Work Session | How will we make it happen?

For questions or concerns, or for help registering for work sessions, please contact Taylor Lormand at 337-581-6182 or TaylorL@stlandryed.com.