The EHJC, started in September 2005, is funded for four years by the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences.  The three primary organizational partners are the Alton Park Development Corporation, Southside/Dodson Avenue Community Health Center, and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. 

The long-term objective of the EHJC is to facilitate and strengthen neighborhood empowerment and leadership, ongoing information exchange, health promotion, and policy improvements in regard to environmental health and justice – with a focus on industrial and commercial chemical contamination -- in the AP/PW neighborhood of Chattanooga, Tennessee.

On June 9, 2009, seventeen youths and ten adults participating in the EHJC's Neighborhood Environmental College's (NEC) Oral History Intergenerational Class visited the UT Knoxville Campus. The group learned the basics of conducting an oral history, including how to compile interview questions, operate audio/visual equipment, and practice mock interviews. The Chattanooga youths also participated in the EHJC NEC Youth Leadership Workshop on Environmental Justice March 19; five of the adults are graduates of other NEC courses. Between sessions, the NEC participants toured the UT campus, learned about career opportunities in the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, the College of Veterinary Medicine, the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, and the College of Social Work, among other fun activities. After the group returned to Chattanooga on June 12, they spent the next week using their skills to interview and record elders in the Alton Park/Piney Woods neighborhood about the history of environmental justice issues in this South Chattanooga community.

Beginning last May 4, EHJC is sponsoring an eight-week course called Fruit of the Spirit, to be held at Greater St. Mary Baptist Church in Alton Park. It targets faith-based groups committed to teaching community participants specifically in high-risk low-income communities how to reduce their chances of being diagnosed with cancer, by learning how to incorporate physical activity and nutritious varieties of fruits and vegetables into their diet.  Students participated in an educational field trip provided by St. Elmo Partners to a local grocery store, and a local restaurant, while also being provided with pertinent information on how to read labels, how to eat healthier at your favorite restaurant, and also how to shop for healthier food options. Call Ed Davis at (423) 778-2732 or email him at for more information.

Read the Chattanooga Times Free Press's weekly update by EHJC Community Correspondent, Falice Haire.