THOMASVILLE, Ga. \u2014 As Earl Williams drove through a historic Black neighborhood known as Dewey City in his hometown, he hardly recognized what he saw.<\/p>\n
Homes that once belonged to friends, family, and neighbors had siding covered in mold. Some were boarded up. Others had holes in their roofs.<\/p>\n
Black churches once used Oquina Creek, which runs along the border of the neighborhood, to baptize their congregants. Today, fecal bacteria and other contaminants have made the water unsafe due to an aging wastewater system.<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes you get the feeling like you\u2019re in a Third World country,\u201d Williams said. After three decades in Washington, D.C., he returned four years ago with a mission to revitalize communities such as Dewey City, which he said are \u201cpart of what makes Thomasville, Thomasville.\u201d<\/p>\n
A $19.8 million Community Change Grant from the Environmental Protection Agency was supposed to shift the tides of the neighborhood Williams grew up in.<\/p>\n
The city and the Thomasville Community Development Corp.<\/a>, where Williams formerly served as community development director, applied for the grant<\/a> in 2024. <\/a>It was part of a $2 billion effort initiated under the Biden administration<\/a> to help disadvantaged communities address environmental health risks and create clean energy and climate resiliency projects.<\/p>\n But three months after winning the grant, Thomasville became one of 80 communities<\/a> across the country \u2014 from Hawai\u2018i<\/a> to Alabama<\/a> to Massachusetts<\/a> \u2014 to see the funding stripped as priorities shifted in Donald Trump\u2019s second presidency.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\tBlack churches once baptized their congregants in Oquina Creek in Thomasville, Georgia. Today, fecal bacteria and other contaminants make the water unsafe.\t\t\t\t\t\t (Briah Lumpkins\/KFF Health News)<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\tDilapidated houses are common in Dewey City, a historic Black neighborhood in Thomasville. Many residents don\u2019t have the funds to mitigate issues with mold, asbestos, or lead paint.\t\t\t\t\t\t (Briah Lumpkins\/KFF Health News)<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n On the first day of his second term, Trump signed an executive order titled \u201cEnding Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing<\/a>.\u201d It stated that the Biden administration \u201cforced illegal and immoral discrimination\u201d through diversity, equity, and inclusion programs.<\/p>\n In an emailed statement, EPA spokesperson Mike Bastasch said the administration is \u201cfully committed to being a great steward of taxpayer dollars.\u201d He added that the \u201cradical agenda\u201d of DEI and environmental justice \u201cpreferencing\u201d are not within the agency\u2019s core mission of protecting human health and the environment.<\/p>\n Environmental health advocates argue, though, that the decision to cut the grants was not rooted in science. They say that equating environmental justice to DEI is an act of bad faith and that withholding the money forces disenfranchised communities to delay long-overdue updates needed to protect public health for marginalized populations.<\/p>\n \u201cI unfortunately believe we\u2019re going to see a reversal in the health profile of this country,\u201d said Jalonne White-Newsome<\/a>, an associate professor at the University of Michigan who served in the Biden administration as the first federal chief environmental justice officer.<\/p>\n \u201cThis current federal regime has decided that humanity and public health and justice don\u2019t mean anything,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u2018Why Us?\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n Thomasville, near Georgia\u2019s southwestern border, is home to just over 18,600 people.<\/p>\n The city had hoped to improve health outcomes in neighborhoods on its southern and western sides where, according to the grant proposal, \u201chistorical redlining created a legacy of disinvestment.\u201d<\/p>\n Those areas have a deep history: Dewey City, for example, was the first neighborhood in the city where Blacks could build homes after the Civil War. It\u2019s also home to the closed Douglass High School \u2014 the first public school for Blacks in Thomasville, established in 1902.<\/p>\n \u201cThis place has been neglected,\u201d said Williams, who occasionally hosts historical walks through the community. \u201cBut it\u2019s worth bringing it back online.\u201d<\/p>\n The proposed \u201cRestoring Resiliency\u201d project featured a plan to remove toxic substances such as mold, lead paint, and asbestos from homes, repair a nearly 82-year-old wastewater system, and convert part of a shuttered high school band room into a health clinic.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\tWilliams points at the former Douglass High School campus, where a healthcare clinic and \u201cresilience hub\u201d was planned.\t\t\t\t\t\t (Briah Lumpkins\/KFF Health News)<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\tIn a community of mostly older residents who rely on public transportation, a healthcare clinic planned for this building would have increased access to care and built trust, local advocates say.\t\t\t\t\t\t (Briah Lumpkins\/KFF Health News)<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cThis was a long and storied attempt to bend the arc of justice closer,\u201d said Jeremy Rich, a Thomas County commissioner and the pastor at First Missionary Baptist Church. \u201cJustice in healthcare. Justice in environmental impact.\u201d<\/p>\n Having a clinic in the community would be a \u201cgame changer,\u201d Rich said. During the covid pandemic, he said, older residents who rely on public transit were reluctant to go to the nearby hospital or the county health department to get vaccinated. When his church offered shots from Black nurses, he said, vaccination rates improved.<\/p>\n The Rev. Jeremy Rich, a pastor, teacher, and Thomas County commissioner, says a clinic in the Dewey City neighborhood of Thomasville would have increased trust in healthcare providers. (Briah Lumpkins\/KFF Health News)<\/p>\n Many residents don\u2019t have the financial means to remove mold, lead paint, and other toxic materials, said Thomasville Mayor Pro Tem Lucinda Brown. \u201cThey just have money to live with every day. That\u2019s it,\u201d she said. \u201cIf they can make that happen.\u201d<\/p>\n The grant meant hope, and its reversal left many asking, \u201cWhy us?\u201d Williams said.<\/p>\n In the EPA\u2019s May 2025 letter<\/a> announcing the grant termination, it said Thomasville\u2019s project promoted \u201cinitiatives that conflict with the Agency\u2019s policy of prioritizing merit, fairness, and excellence.\u201d The grant was \u201cinconsistent with, and no longer effectuates, Agency priorities,\u201d the letter said.<\/p>\n Environmental justice projects are rooted in science, not DEI, said Jillian Blanchard, the senior vice president of climate change and environmental justice at Lawyers for Good Government<\/a>, a national nonprofit that provides pro bono legal assistance in focus areas such as health equity, immigration, and environmental health.<\/p>\n \u201cWhere is the water dirty? Where is the air unclean?\u201d she said. \u201cThat is where the money should go.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/a>In June of last year, nearly two dozen communities and organizations around the country filed a class-action lawsuit<\/a> to get the Community Change Grants reinstated. The lawsuit argued that the projects \u2014 such as efforts to create energy-efficient housing in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and empower Houston residents in the pollution permitting process \u2014 were vital.<\/p>\n The case was dismissed by a federal district judge in 2025 but is being appealed.<\/p>\n Thomasville was not named in that lawsuit. But the city did appeal the EPA\u2019s decision on its project with the support of Blanchard\u2019s group. The city and the EPA continue to dispute the issue.<\/p>\n This March, the EPA\u2019s deputy inspector general, which serves as an independent watchdog for the agency, released a report<\/a> concluding that the process for determining the awardees was fair.<\/p>\n Such federal funding is needed because large-scale change is difficult for small municipalities to achieve without getting stuck with high-interest loans, Blanchard said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s next to impossible,\u201d she said. \u201cThat\u2019s one of the reasons the things haven\u2019t been done.\u201d<\/p>\n Thomasville received nearly $20 million in federal money for improvement in areas like Dewey City. But months later, the Trump administration pulled the funds, citing shifting priorities. (Briah Lumpkins\/KFF Health News)<\/p>\n \u2018It\u2019s Not Over\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n The city of Thomasville has found other ways to make some improvements in the meantime. With the help of a nearly $3 million federal Community Development Block Grant from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, it made repairs to portions of Dewey City\u2019s sewer, water, and drainage systems.<\/p>\n The Thomasville Community Development Corp. has begun building affordable housing in Dewey City and intends to convert a portion of the closed Douglass school into apartments for seniors.<\/p>\n The corporation has also applied for $764,000 in congressional funds<\/a> through the office of Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) that it hopes to use to construct a community health clinic in Dewey City. Decisions on these funding requests will be made this fall.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not over,\u201d said Williams, whose legacy in Thomasville runs deep. At the center of what locals call The Bottom \u2014 a two-block stretch of downtown where independent Black and other minority-owned businesses once thrived \u2014 is a plaque honoring his father, Earl Williams Jr., the city\u2019s first Black mayor.<\/p>\n As he peered at his father\u2019s memorial on a muggy afternoon, he reaffirmed his intentions.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s more work to be done, and I\u2019m able,\u201d he said. \u201cI like pouring into the community.\u201d<\/p>\n But he has little hope the initial grant will be restored under the current administration.<\/p>\n \u201cThat was our shot. We didn\u2019t do anything to miss it,\u201d he said. \u201cWe just did it during the wrong period of time.\u201d<\/p>\n Williams came back to Thomasville after years away, in part to continue a legacy started by his father, Earl Williams Jr., who was Thomasville\u2019s first Black mayor and first Black council member. (Briah Lumpkins\/KFF Health News)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n KFF Health News<\/a> is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF\u2014an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n This article<\/a> first appeared on KFF Health News<\/a> and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" THOMASVILLE, Ga. \u2014 As Earl Williams drove through a historic Black neighborhood known as Dewey City in his hometown, he hardly recognized what he saw. Homes that once belonged to friends, family, and neighbors had siding covered in mold. Some were boarded up. Others had holes in their roofs. Black churches once used Oquina Creek,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":14683,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14682","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14682"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14682"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14682\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14683"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14682"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14682"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14682"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}