Project Spotlights
Hollygrove-Dixon
Neighborhood Association
New Orleans, Louisiana | 2026
Service:
Community Data Assessment
Turning Neighborhood Data
into a Tool for Action
The Need
Residents of Hollygrove-Dixon wanted a clearer picture of conditions on their own blocks. Most available data covered only large areas, and tools the community once relied on, such as the federal EJScreen map, were no longer available.
Working Together
GridEquity provided technical expertise for the assessment, working alongside Georgia State University's Center for Neighborhoods & Communities and the Environmental Equity Information Institute.
Raymond Sweet of the Hollygrove-Dixon Neighborhood Association set the direction, identifying the five priority concerns the team studied: social vulnerability, heat and flooding, vacant and abandoned properties, household energy burden, and food access.
The Result
In June 2026, the community received a report with block by block detail, an interactive map, and spreadsheets of property and block data to support planning and funding applications. One finding stood out: households in the area spend about 5% of their income on energy, compared with 2% citywide and 3% statewide.
Managing a Data Project to Support Gloster Residents
The Need
Residents of Gloster, a rural town of 1,189 people, have long organized around the Drax Amite wood pellet plant. When Drax appealed a decision blocking its air permit, Dogwood Alliance and its partners needed to understand the possible health impacts of the plant's air emissions.
Working Together
GridEquity served as project manager, contracting the Environmental Equity Information Institute (E2I2) to analyze publicly available data on the environmental and health impacts that may be associated with Drax Amite’s air emissions. This allowed E2I2’s experts to focus on the research while supporting Dogwood Alliance, Earthjustice, and Greater Greener Gloster.
The Result
In October 2025, E2I2 delivered a report that found available health data was outdated, relied on estimates rather than local measurements, and could not show the combined health effects of the chemicals released. Similarly, hyper-local environmental estimates were unavailable, but using Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) Reporting Program data and Drax's emissions estimates, E2I2 concluded that the projected increase in emissions if the permit were approved could be detrimental to community health.
Environmental Equity Information Institute (E2I2)
Gloster, MS | 2025
Service:
Project Management
Hollygrove-Dixon
Neighborhood Association
New Orleans, Louisiana | 2026
Service:
Grant Writing Support
Seeking Funding to Review Residents' Utility Bills
The Need
High energy costs were a concern in Hollygrove-Dixon, but publicly available data can mask how residents actually live with them, including households that avoid using energy because their bills are too high.
Working Together
GridEquity helped the Hollygrove-Dixon Neighborhood Association write a grant application to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation for a utility bill analysis. The goal was ground truthing: checking government estimates against residents' real bills to see how people actually use energy, or go without it. The association shaped the proposal around neighborhood priorities, while GridEquity contributed grant writing support and energy expertise.
The Result
The application was not funded, but the need is still there. The 2026 community assessment also recommends this kind of ground truthing, including a review of up to 30 residential utility bills. GridEquity remains committed to working with the association on future grants and programs, and to offering its expertise wherever it can help.