HERCULES Supports Community Grantee Event
The Chapel Hill Organization, an Exposome Roadshow and Community Grant Program grantee in south Dekalb County, and partner organization on a HERCULES Pilot Grant, hosted a community event this past Halloween weekend to engage local residents and raise awareness about environmental health issues in their community. 
SoilSHOP led by HERCULES Scientist and SAB Members
The HERCULES Community Engagement Core (CEC) reached out to HERCULES scientists and Stakeholder Advisory Board (SAB) members to support the event. Representatives from the Georgia Department of Public Health, ATSDR, and CDC along with HERCULES member Eri Saikawa and her students attended the event and conducted a SoilSHOP, providing free soil lead testing and lead exposure prevention education.
HERCULES Community-engaged Pilot Project team engages residents
HERCULES Data Sciences Lead and Pilot Project PI Lance Waller also attended the event to engage residents around maps of their community which will inform their collaborative pilot project which aims to visualize various community exposures. With the help of two EH students, residents learned about EJ Screen and how to use it, while Dr. Waller and community partner Clarence Williams talked with residents about where they experience smells, and inquired about other items that the residents would like displayed on interactive maps of their community. To enhance community-led data collection, a HERCULES student also informed residents about the Smell My City app, encouraging them to log odors using the app. 
Residents learn about common household exposures
The HERCULES Community Engagement Core talked with residents about the exposome, and specifically about common exposures they might find in their homes. Residents were very interested to learn how pesticides, cleaning products, cooking and food items, and personal care products can impact their health and how to avoid them.
Community mobilized around environmental health
The Chapel Hill Organization did an amazing job of mobilizing residents to learn about environmental health issues impacting their community, and HERCULES looks forward to our continued partnership. As SAB Member and past Eco-Action Executive Director Yomi Noibi said at the event, despite the pandemic Chapel Hill did not stop organizing, and the community must keep their momentum and mobilize to address environmental injustices.
