In partnership with HousingLOUISIANA, we’re delivering a dynamic training program that supports education and advocacy lessons on resilient homes built and updated with a focus on weatherization, fortification, and energy efficiency. Our homes are more than structures—they’re tools for economic empowerment, lower energy costs, and improved quality of life. This project is an important facet of a just transition away from fossil fuels toward a healthier, more equitable energy system.

Alongside Alliance for Affordable Energy, we’re expanding community knowledge about how our energy systems work—highlighting the importance of equitable transmission planning, renewable energy access, and energy justice.

Our trainings are designed to equip community leaders with the tools to influence policy, hold utilities accountable, and push for fair housing policies, renewable energy solutions, and transmission planning that serves everyone.

Housing and energy topics are complex subjects to tackle, but are worth exploring and can result in transformative changes locally and regionally.

Power to the People Coalition Empowers Communities to Advocate for Climate-Ready Housing

Continuing efforts that began in 2024, this spring, DSCEJ held two workshops for CBO leaders – Staying Power: Generating Resilient Communities Workshop I on March 5, 2025 in New Orleans and a second Virtual Workshop on April 21, 2025.

Participants discussed preparing homes for extreme weather by improving home energy efficiency, weatherization, and home fortification. They learned how improving homes in this way can increase community resilience to extreme weather and can potentially reduce home insurance premiums across an entire state. Participants also learned about renewable energy opportunities, transmission planning implications, and the who, how, and where to advocate for community needs related to housing and energy issues.

Our Staying Power: Generating Resilient Communities workshops impacted approximately 40 CBOS representing Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Michigan, Mississippi, Texas, Virginia, and Washington. These workshops have led to the development of advocacy tools that prioritize communities’ needs and connect them directly to the benefits that emerge from community-directed initiatives. These tools include policy guides, educational materials, and advocacy training, all tailored to address pressing housing and energy challenges. The series will continue this fall with a workshop to develop community action plans and roadmaps for energy and housing initiatives.

On July 15, members of DSCEJ staff attended the Light is Your Right Energy Independence: Hurricane Prep Workshop hosted by the Institute of Utopian Hospitality in New Orleans. The purpose of the event was to share insights on building energy resilience in your home. Topics discussed included using renewable power to ensure lights and critical items, like medical devices, stay on during times of emergency, as well as how our communities can build a more reliable, equitable grid for everyone.

The Light is Your Right campaign is the brainchild of the Energy Future New Orleans Coalition (EFNO), an organization committed to community-centered energy justice. The campaign’s mission is to raise awareness, educate, and empower the community to call on local leaders to recognize utility access as a human right, and to adopt policies that protect New Orleans’ most vulnerable residents.

DSCEJ has been an active member of this coalition since its inception in 2016. Over the spring and summer of 2025, DSCEJ supported several Light is Your Right community meetings and events. We are excited to continue collaborating with this community-centered energy justice coalition.