January 2021

Dear Beverly and Salem community members,

Happy New Year! We hope the start of 2021 is finding you safe and healthy. Especially today, we are feeling energized to continue building Resilient Together, the joint climate action and resilience plan for Beverly and Salem to take collective action in the face of the climate crisis.

You are receiving the first newsletter for Resilient Together. Thank you for your support so far as we pass the midpoint of this planning process! We're introducing this new format to keep you informed of our progress on Resilient Together between now and June, and to highlight ways for you to get involved. To begin, we're sharing a few ways for you to join the fun:

1. Mindmixer: Resilient Together's online discussion forum

Engage in conversations with your neighbors and City leaders on issues important to you! Each week we'll share new questions and invite you to learn about the seven plan elements: Mobility, Natural Resources, Infrastructure, Solid Waste, Energy, Buildings & Development, and Public Health & Safety.

In order to participate in a meaningful discussion around climate change in Beverly and Salem, you’ll need to create an account on Mindmixer. Your information will not be shared. If you have questions or concerns about this, please let us know (contact info below). Each time you submit an idea, you’ll be entered into a raffle to win prizes!

Sign up here: http://resilienttogether.mindmixer.com/

2. Testimonials: We want to hear your stories!
Resilient Together is all about uplifting the experiences of members of our communities while tackling climate change. As Beverly and Salem residents, many of us are already taking important steps to lessen our impact on the environment and support our neighbors through challenging times.

What does climate action look like in your day-to-day life?

Are you a restaurant owner sourcing local food? Do you check in on an elderly neighbor when there’s a bad storm? Are you a student organizing your friends to learn more about climate change at your school or place of worship?

Submit your stories through the form here. Get creative! Share a photo or video that helps to show your climate action.

3. Follow and engage with us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram!

4. Watch our Resilient Together Video

This 2-minute video on our home page introduces Resilient Together and stars your neighbors and community leaders!

Resilient Together video still image of community members

Plan Updates

The Climate Action and Advisory Committee of 40+ stakeholders in Salem and Beverly had our second meeting in December to brainstorm and prioritize action items to support our draft goals. With your input through Mindmixer and testimonials, we’ll continue to develop these action items over the next month.
A group of 10 Beverly and Salem community members ages 16+ are serving as our Resilient Together Ambassadors, and they've been hard at work planning virtual climate change education events, writing blog posts, and encouraging friends and family to participate in online engagement such as the first survey and mindmixer. We'll share opportunities to participate in their work soon!

City Action Highlight

The City of Beverly is joining Salem & 150 Massachusetts communities in developing an electricity aggregation program, which allows cities to use their collective buying power to provide renewable energy to residents and businesses. The Salem PowerChoice program launched in 2016 and provides 100% renewable energy to residents and businesses! Beverly Community Electric will allow the City of Beverly to take a big step toward our community's sustainability goals. Tune in to a public information session about Beverly's draft program plan on Wednesday, January 20th, at 6:30 pm or provide feedback on the plan by February 5th.

Thank you for making it through our first newsletter -- please send along to your friends and family to help spread the word! If you’d like to be added to this newsletter email list, let us know. We look forward to hearing from you soon!

Your Resilient Together City leads,
Esmeralda Bisono (ebisono@salem.com), Emily Hutchings (ehutchings@beverlyma.gov), and Erina Keefe (ekeefe@beverlyma.gov)