Sustainable Community Development Program

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Every member of our team contributes to CHEAF’s mission of ensuring every individual in a community can call home their own thriving space.

Founder’s Welcome

Welcome to the Communities Health & Economic Alliance Foundation (CHEAF) website. In 2022, I formed CHEAF as a 501(c)(3) organization as a vehicle to follow my vision of giving back to underserved communities across our nation. My hope was to create an organization that would support communities trapped behind systemic barriers to economic growth and environmental health. I saw the need for an organization that would take a leadership role in championing economic and environmental sustainability. However, embedded within those communities lay a deficit of knowledge and resources required for basic economic and environmental growth.

So, here we are:

  • Assisting communities secure economic funding;
  • Managing projects;
  • Backing efforts that create opportunities for women, veterans, and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs);
  • Supporting other non-profit organizations in their fight against a declining climate.

Additionally, I saw a strong need for community planning within the Lower Mississippi Valley (LMV) Delta (Delta) and other communities across the nation facing economic barriers to growth. To address this challenge, CHEAF created an initiative with the primary goal of providing support in the drafting of economic development strategic plans for Delta communities. In working with the Town of Lake Providence, East Carroll Parish, Louisiana, CHEAF researched the business community and local stakeholders to create a strategic framework to guide the entire parish's economic development activities. As a result of this effort, CHEAF will fully support community economic development strategic plans with very specific outcomes such as

1) Sustainable-wage job growth;

2) A more sustainable tax base driven by commercial and industrial investment;

3) An economy that capitalizes on high-growth businesses and the creative individuals who fuel them;

4) And a commitment to “quality of place” throughout the community.

Ultimately, our goal is to advocate for equity and diversity as a business imperative to increase our chances to innovate and create sustainable wealth and a clean environment for our communities. For CHEAF to succeed, we need the involvement of organizations and individuals who believe in economic diversity and environmental health as a national priority. I invite you to be part of CHEAF and join with us today.
Jessica