UVA Wise Receives Funding to Promote Resiliency Planning and Lower Energy Costs in Southwest Virginia
The University of Virginia's College at Wise (UVA Wise) announced today that $19,886,658 in federal funding will be directed to UVA, with the majority of that funding allocated to assist with resiliency planning and to fund climate resiliency projects in Southwest Virginia that will help lower energy costs and provide other benefits for communities in Southwest Virginia, thus enhancing their climate resilient infrastructure. UVA Wise will receive $2.9 million of the funding to support and coordinate the project work.
This funding will impact 10 communities throughout Southwest Virginia and fund climate-resilient affordable housing, electric vehicle charging stations, energy-efficient and carbon-neutral childcare and workforce training, and climate-resilient gathering spaces that double as community capacity-building spaces and healthcare access points. The projects receiving this funding are expected to save childcare centers over $50,000 in energy costs, allowing more funding to be directed toward childcare worker salaries, and the grant will mitigate over 40,000 metric tons of CO2 in the next 25 years.
U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine have long supported efforts to expand and promote clean energy throughout the Commonwealth and were crucial in the funding that was awarded through the Environmental Protection Agency’s Environmental and Climate Justice Community Change Grant Program.
“Climate resiliency and energy efficiency are crucial ways to make our communities safer while also lowering costs,” the senators said. “We’re glad this funding, which was made possible by the Inflation Reduction Act, will help advance those goals in Southwest Virginia and address important community needs.”
This initiative leverages the expertise and resources provided so that partners such as Dickenson and Buchanan Counties, Endless Opportunities (EO), The Nature Conservancy, Clinch River Valley Initiative (CRVI) and the Healthy Appalachia Institute can work as a team to best serve Southwest Virginia.
“UVA Wise is excited to receive this opportunity to improve the places in which our students, employees and community live. We look forward to partnering with the program to support some great community resilience and development projects that will also help lower energy costs in the region,” says Donna P. Henry, UVA Wise Chancellor.
In addition to UVA Wise, other higher education institutions such as James Madison University, Virginia Tech and the Massachusetts Insitute of Technology are also part of the project.
“We are proud to be part of the partnership between UVA, UVA Wise and key partners in the region, which will help us continue to collaborate on important community development initiatives and projects,” says Randall Rose, associate vice chancellor of community and economic development.
The project has also received support from the UVA Environmental Institute. Several other colleges of the University, including UVA School of Medicine, the School of Engineering and Applied Science, the Frank Batton School of Leadership and Public Policy and the Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service are also partners in the project.
To learn more about the program please visit http://www.resilientappalachia.org.