Charlotte nonprofit files suit over federal funding freeze

CLEANAIRE NC

Daisha Wall, community science manager at CleanAIRE NC, installs air monitors in Durham in 2023. The Charlotte-based environmental advocacy nonprofit is installing monitors in four mostly Black communities north Mecklenburg County as part of a federal grant program.

A Charlotte nonprofit joined a federal lawsuit to stop the Trump administration’s freeze of federal funding for previously approved programs.

CleanAIRE NC was among 11 organizations and six cities to sue in the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina, Charleston Division. The Southern Environmental Law Center and the Public Rights Project, which represent the plaintiffs, contend the Trump administration’s pause on funds placed the petitioners in financial limbo. The grants, which were approved by Congress, allow cities and nonprofits to carry out community programs — often in place of federal, state and local initiatives.

Many of the grants impacted by the freeze support projects that address health, environmental, agricultural and climate challenges in communities facing disproportionate pollution and environmental risks.

“These funds represent a promise we’ve made to the communities of north Mecklenburg County,” CleanAIRE NC executive director Jeffrey Robbins said in a statement. “These communities have partnered with us, shared their stories, and are now relying on us for critical services and information about the air they breathe. Even a temporary disruption to this vital work jeopardizes our ability to fulfill the commitments we’ve made.”

CleanAIRE NC’s federal grant to expand community air monitoring and health resources in north Mecklenburg County put on hold.

“When Congress decided it was time to invest in American communities, infrastructure, and innovation around the country, these groups stepped up,” SELC litigation director Kym Meyer said. “The plaintiffs in this case won highly competitive grants because of the excellent projects they put forward, and the government should honor the commitments it made to these hardworking local organizations dedicated to helping their communities.

“This chaotic federal funding freeze is destroying their ability to do important work to create jobs and improve lives.”

The funding freeze, plaintiffs contend, is disrupting work that includes developing energy-efficient affordable housing and weatherizing and retrofitting homes in North Charleston, S.C.; a training program to prepare young adults for jobs in the water and solid waste industries in Baltimore, and increasing access to safe, affordable, healthy food across the country.

“Continued freezes and disruptions to our work would be catastrophic to the project and would be equivalent to the government turning its back on the promised housing, jobs, and other economic, environmental and social impacts that are set to be delivered,” said Bryan Cordell, executive director of the Sustainability Institute in North Charleston, which conducts affordable housing, weatherization, and residential retrofits to homes. “We can't allow that type of failure to occur.”

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