Yale program administrator outlines four local heat and air-quality pilot projects for BRACE program

Alex Rockman, program administrator for the Center on Climate Change and Health at Yale, opened the meeting with an update on BRACE-funded pilot grants and said contracts with local health departments "have been fully executed." He said Yale and the Department of Public Health will support local health departments (LHDs) as they develop Local Heat and Air Quality Response Plans (LHAQPs) with a health‑equity lens; the plans are due to DPH on Aug. 1, 2026, and the contract period runs through Aug. 31, 2026.

Rockman gave a brief overview of four newly funded grantees. Ledge Light Health District, which covers nine towns in southeast Connecticut and focuses on Groton and New London, will prioritize heat and air‑quality hotspots, wildfire‑related health concerns, mold and unhealthy housing conditions, with a focus on children, seniors and high‑risk neighborhoods. Rockman said those projects will include community focus groups and coordination with school and municipal operations.

The Stamford Department of Health and Human Services will concentrate on childhood asthma and communication needs in socially vulnerable neighborhoods near I‑95. Rockman cited a school‑based asthma prevalence of 12.7% in Stamford compared with a 12.3% Connecticut school average, and said Stamford will conduct focus groups with parents, caregivers and preschool staff, and expand a local asthma control program.

Waterberry Health Department described projects addressing about 34 brownfields and legacy industrial pollution sites, connections between those sites and respiratory burden, and work on messaging for families, dementia‑aware first‑responder training, and long‑term cold‑weather shelter options for people who are unhoused.

Bridgeport Health Department reported persistent high asthma rates (Rockman summarized a city figure of roughly 11% of residents) and low self‑reported adult health (about 49% reporting "good" health). Bridgeport plans to expand cooling‑center operations, convene listening sessions in Park City communities, and maintain a PowerBI dashboard to support implementation; Rockport said Bridgeport will coordinate with local nonprofits that have tapped NASA DEVELOP products rather than working directly with NASA in every case.

Rockman said the grantees will present their pilot work at the annual Connecticut Climate and Health Symposium in early September (exact date to be determined). He closed by inviting any grantee representatives on the call to correct or add details to the overview.