350 Pensacola world.350.org/pensacola
Illustrations by Poppy Garcia
There is a lot to love about Pensacola—from the iconic landmarks, scenery and cultural offerings to the way neighbors and community come together in times of adversity. As our community continues to grow and change over the years, it is the people who dedicate their time and hearts that make our city such an amazing place to live. These organizations, activists and community leaders rally around issues within our community to promote change, progress and make our city a better place for future generations to come. While we sport our Pensacola regalia and “live where you vacation” bumper stickers to show off how much we love our city, it takes guts to stand up for what you believe, point out issues that affect our most vulnerable citizens and work together on solutions to fix them. In the spirit of the season, Pensacola Magazine wanted to highlight these organizations and activists that work year-round to support issues of food insecurity and homelessness, domestic and sexual violence, animal welfare, social justice and racial inequality, LGBT+ and women’s rights, disability rights and so much more. While we could not include every nonprofit organization working to effect change in Pensacola, we hope this selection gives you an insight into the many ways to give back to your community and love the place that you call home. 26 | DECEMBER 2021
350 Pensacola is the local affiliate of 350.org, one of the largest international nonprofit organizations fighting climate change on a global and local level. 350 is the amount of carbon, in parts per million, needed in the atmosphere to have a healthy, sustainable planet, and right now the global average atmospheric levels are over 410. “We are already seeing the devastating impacts of climate change around the world, in the form of severe storms, droughts, flooding, wildfires, sea level rise and the destruction of whole ecosystems, such as coral reefs. Our mission is two-fold, to educate the public about the need to take action to reduce carbon emissions immediately, as we now consider the planet to be in a climate emergency, and to influence local government to implement policies to reduce their own carbon emissions and encourage and support local citizens in their efforts to do the same,” Executive Director Sandra Adams explained.
Healthy Gulf
Healthy Gulf, originally formed in 1994 under the name Gulf healthygulf.org Restoration Network, is an organization dedicated to providing research, communications and coalitionbuilding tools needed to reverse the lover exploitation of the Gulf of Mexico’s natural resources. “Our staff of 15 works with people across the Gulf region to protect waterways, aquatic life and communities from the impacts of pollution and climate change. We do that through science, education, advocacy and sometimes legal action. We don’t accept funds from polluting industries, and that keeps our voices free and strong. Volunteers help us fulfill critical needs, including research, graphic design, social media and more,” Christian Wagley, coastal organizer at Healthy Gulf said.
Healthy Gulf has nearly 4,000 Florida Gulf coast residents who subscribe to their email updates and with whom they communicate regularly about issues along our coast. These are the engaged coastal residents they rely on to keep us informed and to rally around important issues.
