sweet-alabama-tablecloth
sweet-alabama-tablecloth

Birmingham, Alabama

Sweet Alabama

SWEET Alabama’s mission is to connect communities to resources for energy efficiency, sustainability and affordable homes. SWEET Alabama’s (Sustainable Water, Energy, and Economic Transition in Alabama) vision is dedicated to pragmatic solutions that can create real change in Alabama. Poor sanitation, health concerns and disproportionate energy burdens serve as prime examples of the environmental and economic injustices these programs directly target. Despite abundant natural resources and a beneficial climate for green and renewable energies, Alabama is home to some of the most predatory and inefficient uses of energy and water in the world. Designed to be implemented in partnership with affected households and communities to create lasting change, programs include workshops at residences to teach homeowners energy retrofitting; a tool-lending library; and a youth fellowship program designed to teach energy retrofitting skills and support youth interested in green careers.

Sweet Alabama Vice President Celida Soto Garcia. (Photo from Sweet Alabama Instagram page)

SWEET Alabama began as a conversation between seven community organizers and frontline community members who had been working together for years through various organizations and movements. The group has been performing community work since 2017 and hosting community training since 2019, gaining nonprofit status in 2020. With a staff, board, advisory board and a youth fellowship team, SWEET’s primary target population is low-income, BIPOC and female-headed households. Birmingham’s poverty rate is 29 percent, although Jefferson County’s overall rate is only 15 percent. SWEET’S research shows that Birmingham’s low-income households use about 11 percent of their income to pay utilities, the second highest in the country. Alabama also has the sixth highest poverty rate,  yet residents pay the highest household electric bills in the U.S. SWEET programs seek to lessen this disproportionate energy burden, which not only perpetuates the cycle of poverty but is a key component of it. 

Contact
Rob Burton, Executive Director
Climate impacts
Drought, Heat
Strategies
Elevation or relocation of homes, Renewable energy, Land trusts / conservation, Political activism, including protests, petitions, and lobbying, Community organizing and education, Legislation/policy reform, Development of co-ops and mutual aid programs
Environmental Justice Concerns
Superfund sites, Coal/coke plants and emissions, Groundwater contamination, Air pollution, hazardous/unsafe/indoor contamination in residential housing
501c3 Tax Deductible
Yes
Accepting Donation
Yes