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Dear
I (my organization) am writing to express my support for the
NIEHS Environmental Justice and Community-Based
Participatory Research programs. We greatly appreciate the
commitment NIEHS has made to these programs over the past
decade and hope to see them continued.
These (this) program(s) is/are important to me (my
organization) because [use examples below and add your
own]:
- Environmental Justice is an
important goal for our nation. Our nation was founded on
the notion of equality – all of us living here should
have the right to live in a healthy environment. We
know, in part from research conducted through the EJ/CBPR
program, that low income people and people of color are
disproportionately exposed to harmful chemical, physical
and social environments. Much work remains to document
the extent of these disproportionate exposures,
understand how they affect health and develop policies
and programs to eliminate them.
- CBPR is emerging as an important
approach to conducting rigorous research on issues of
public health importance. By providing a framework for
developing partnerships between researchers and
community members, scientists can conduct
epidemiological and intervention research with
populations who are most likely to be affected by health
disparities. Elimination of health disparities is a
major priority of Healthy People 2010. CBPR has
demonstrated efficacy in facilitating participant
recruitment and retention, improving data collection and
intervention methods and generating community interest
in and support for research.
- Other reasons
NIEHS has been a leader in both EJ and CBPR, and we greatly
value the valuable role the Institute has played. For
example, NIEHS has:
- Funded the EJ projects to do [insert
examples from your project]
- Funded CBPR projects to do [insert
examples from your project]
- Provided leadership within NIH and
with other federal agencies to address EJ and conduct
CBPR projects
- Other examples
We hope that under your tenure as director of NIEHS,
especially as you develop the new strategic for the
Institute, that you will continue to support the EJ program
and CBPR projects. We urge you and other NIEHS staff to
continue to advocate for EJ and CBPR among other Institutes
and federal agencies.
Specifically, we ask that NIEHS:
- Fund EJ and CBPR at $XXX and $XXX
per year, respectively and that funding increase by X%
per year.
- Designate staff to participate in
and lead federal inter-agency EJ and CBPR efforts.
- Invite community representatives
to participate in the NIEHS strategic planning process.
We would be happy to join you.
- Other ideas…
We thank you for your attention to this matter and look
forward to hearing from you. We extend and invitation to
come visit our community to see first-hand the positive
impact the EJ and CBPR programs are having. We offer you any
assistance you might need for better understanding and
improving these programs.
Sincerely,
Cc: Zarhouney
Congressional rep
Senators
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