Stephanie Novak – Funding the Frontlines

Stephanie Novak is a community organizer for Mountain Watershed Association (MWA) and seeks to empower community leaders with the skills and knowledge they need to engage in public participation in order to strengthen grassroots efforts from the ground up. She is the project coordinator for the Direct Support Fund which provides  small distributions of funds to individuals and grassroots groups working on shale gas issues. To date, Direct Support has provided over $100,000 to frontline communities.

Direct Support can be used for organizing and outreach efforts like mailing and printing costs, hosting educational events or fundraisers, community science and monitoring, and auxiliary legal costs such as filing fees or transcript costs.

We can also briefly talk about some of the tools that are available to frontline communities such as the zoning map, ABCs of organizing, and HHN.

That funding for organizing in response to shale gas development is available and that you do not need to be an expert to apply or to create have a successful project/campaign.

As Mentioned in This Episode:

• Mountain Watershed Association
  • https://www.mtwatershed.com/
• MWA Direct Support Fund
• HHN Episode 06 - Gillian Graeber, Protecting Our Children From Fracking
• Interactive Map Shows Link Between Local Government and Shale Gas Development
• Oil & Gas Zoning in SouthWestern PA (FracTracker Map)
• Southwest Pennsylvania Environmental Health Project
• Protect Our Children Coalition
• Organizing ABCs

Credits:

This podcast is a project of halttheharm.net, a powerful resource for anyone confronting the fracking industry. Halt the Harm is a network of leaders who are taking action, sharing resources and information, and supporting each other’s campaigns. Find out more at halttheharm.net

The soundtrack Halt the Harm podcast is"One of These Days" by Eilen Jewell from her album Sea of Tears.

Recorded, produced, and published by Ryan Clover-Owens in the studios of Eco-Defense Radio and WRFI.