Mayor Michelle Wu Announces Six Recipients of the 2025 Community Clean Air Grant

The Community Clean Air Grant Program will award over $1M to six projects to advance a range of strategies addressing air pollution.

Mayor Michelle Wu announced the awardees of the 2025 Community Clean Air Grant program. A total of $1,117,296 will be distributed over the next two years to support six community-based projects designed to reduce air pollution and improve public health, with a focus on Boston's environmental justice neighborhoods.

"From investing in effective air purifiers to advanced air quality monitoring systems, these Community Clean Air Grants allow Boston to take action on the ground - continuing to improve public health and strengthen our neighborhoods against the impacts of air pollution and climate change," said Mayor Michelle Wu. "I'm grateful to all our contributing partners and look forward to our continued collaboration on the meaningful work ahead."

The six awardees are:

• Allston-Brighton Health Collaborative- $199,985 to deploy sensors and air purifiers to measure and mitigate traffic-related air pollution from the Massachusetts Turnpike and to develop air quality education materials.
• Chinatown Main Street- $159,230 to launch a youth-led air quality education campaign and administer a microgrant program supporting indoor air quality improvements in Chinatown's restaurants and small businesses.
• GreenRoots- $200,000 to expand community-informed air quality monitoring in East Boston, including the deployment of new ultrafine particulate monitors.
• Neighborhood of Affordable Housing- $184,050 to expand a youth-led, bilingual initiative combining indoor air quality monitoring, mitigation, and community education.
• Olin College of Engineering, in partnership with the Fairmount Indigo CDC Collaborative- $179,340 to measure public transit-related air pollution exposure along the Fairmount Corridor using backpack-based sensors, implement indoor air quality mitigation in nearby communities, and share findings through education materials.
• The Trustees of Boston University, in partnership with Boston Public Schools- $194,691 to pilot and evaluate a novel school-based air pollution monitoring and action plan to reduce student and staff air pollution exposures.

The Community Clean Air Grant program is funded through the Air Pollution Control Commission's Pollution Abatement Fund. The grant program was piloted in 2021 and has since been strengthened through feedback and evaluation. Grants should reduce local sources of air pollution, improve public health outcomes, and advance environmental justice. By providing resources directly to community-based organizations, the program empowers residents to design and lead solutions that address the air quality challenges in their own neighborhoods.

Applications for the next round of funding will open in summer 2026. In the meantime, prospective applicants are welcome to reach out to brainstorm project ideas, and when the next application cycle opens, the City will offer office hours and information sessions to help organizations learn more. Applicants can learn more at boston.gov/clean-air-grant.

This program is part of Boston's broader commitment to building a healthier, more sustainable, and more livable city. Boston is committed to reaching carbon neutrality by 2050, and cleaner air is central to that effort-not only to reduce greenhouse gas emissions long term, but also to improve daily life for residents right now. Cleaner air means healthier children, stronger families, and more vibrant neighborhoods. The six projects highlight that air quality is an environmental justice issue, and that community-led local solutions can make a powerful, lasting difference.

"This program reflects Boston's commitment to monitoring and tackling local air pollution, which we know is being exacerbated by climate change," said Brian Swett, City of Boston's Chief Climate Officer. "By investing directly in community-driven solutions, we are advancing cleaner air and healthier futures, especially in neighborhoods that bear the greatest burdens from local sources of air pollution."

"Our neighborhoods in the Fairmont Corridor rank in the 84th-97th percentile for PM2.5 pollution, leading to devastating health outcomes like asthma rates nearly double the city average," said Kendra Beaver, Director of Climate Justice at Fairmount Indigo CDC Collaborative. "Through this grant, our project will increase community knowledge and resources, leverage data to reduce residents' air pollution exposure, and support advocacy efforts for clean air."

"For decades, Allston-Brighton residents along the Mass Pike have borne the ever-increasing health burdens of traffic-related air pollution," said Anna Leslie, Director at the Allston Brighton Health Collaborative. "This funding equips community members with the tools and knowledge to mitigate these hazards in their homes, and empowers all of us to work for cleaner air across the neighborhood."

"Poor air quality, caused by transportation and climate change, is a pressing issue for East Boston residents," said Phil Giffee, Executive Director at Neighborhood of Affordable Housing. "This award enables our program to provide at-risk families with free air purifiers and educational workshops for immediate relief, as well as install strategically-placed sensors to analyze data and share findings with the community."

"High air pollution events are occurring more frequently, and children are among the most vulnerable to their effects," said M. Patricia Fabian, Associate Professor of Environmental Health and Associate Director at the Institute for Global Sustainability at Boston University. "We're excited to partner with Boston Public Schools to co-develop an Air Pollution Action Plan that brings together the school community, Boston University researchers, and real-time data from the district's groundbreaking air quality sensor network."

"This is an exciting moment to receive this grant as the technology for advanced air quality monitoring is becoming more affordable and accessible," said John Walkey, Director of Waterfront and Climate Justice Initiatives at GreenRoots and East Boston resident. "This grant will give us the opportunity to monitor ultrafine particulate matter in a way that we have never done before. This will empower the community with data that they've long sought."

"To combat the highest air pollution levels in the Commonwealth, the Chinatown CLEAN project will focus on empowering local small businesses," said Debbie Ho, Executive Director at Chinatown Main Street. "We will engage neighborhood youth to create educational videos and offer a mini-grant program to fund mitigation measures. We are excited to collaborate with the city and other communities to bring cleaner air to our most vulnerable residents."

The program is supported by the Air Pollution Control Commission's Pollution Abatement Fund. The next round of Community Clean Air Grant applications will open in summer 2026.

• Published by: Mayor's Office