Roadshow Grantee: Clayton County “Community Changemakers”
HERCULES partnered with Emory’s Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing’s Center for Children’s Health Assessment, Research Translation, and Combating Environmental Racism (CHARTER) to fund this community.
Phase 1: Exposome Roadshow Workshop
The Panhandle Corridor is located near Hampton, Georgia south of the Atlanta Airport in Clayton County and is a close neighbor to the Clayton County Water Authority J. W. Smith Facility. The Flint River runs through several communities along the Panhandle Corridor.
Residents of the Panhandle Corridor, brought together by the Northbridge Estates MABRA Endowment Trust, have concerns about their air and water quality and the rapid development happening in their area. They are also concerned about the communication gap between the government and the diverse communities and multiple generations that live in the community. They applied to the Roadshow Program in order to bring seniors and youth together to “organize, analyze, monitor and share data to make action-plans and/or requests/demands for action to improve the quality of our environment.” 
This group met with Emory HERCULES and CHARTER in October and November 2023 to share their environmental health concerns, learn about the exposome, and identify an environmental health priority. As a result, a group of residents committed to working together to address air and water quality in their area, specifically related to diesel school buses and a bus barn and PFAS water contamination.
Phase 2: Planning Grant
Residents who came together in Phase 1 were awarded $1000 in January 2024 to develop an Action Plan to address the community needs identified during the Roadshow:
- Air Quality/Pollution
- Water Quality/Pollution
- Litter and its Impact on Panhandle Corridor environment
They will develop an action plan that will include an anti-litter campaign, collaboration with the Clayton County Water Authority, and to gather data on the bus barn.
Phase 3: Action Grant
The Clayton County residents, now going by the name “Community Changemakers”, completed an Action Plan detailing three priority areas of focus: Water Pollution, Litter, and Youth Engagement.
Their group’s missing is to bring Clayton County communities together for intergenerational events to reduce litter and involve youth in meaningful civic engagement activities through targeted educational experiences and community health awareness.