Nuevas Voces Explores Air Quality with Hands-On Learning

For our third Nuevas Voces session of the year, 20 students gathered for an engaging, bilingual workshop focused on one of the issues most deeply connected to daily life and community health: air quality. Thanks to our amazing guest presenter Meredith Hastings of Breathe Providence, students explored how air quality is measured, how it is regulated, and what we can each do to protect ourselves and our families.

Learning How Air Quality Works

The evening featured interactive presentations that broke down the basics of air pollution. We examined gases and particulate matter from vehicle emissions, construction sites, factories, and wildfire smoke. Students discussed how these pollutants affect both the environment and our bodies, especially for people with preexisting conditions like asthma or other respiratory issues. We also connected this learning back to local history and how Providence’s mill buildings and industrial legacy polluted the river, the land, and the air.

Our partners from Breathe Providence shared their ongoing project placing 24 air quality filters throughout the city. Students learned how these monitors work and where to find publicly available information, including resources from RIDEM and data provided under the Clean Air Act.

Measuring Air Quality With Tools and With Our Senses

One of the most powerful parts of the session took place outside. Participants used both scientific instruments and their own senses to read the air. While one team used the Breathe Providence monitor, another compared it to what they could observe using everyday tools like paper, sage, a candle, and a cigar to understand how air behaves and how smoke moves through space.

Students also discussed the limits of monitoring. A single sensor in East Providence can show only part of the picture. National level data does not always reflect neighborhood level experiences. Numerical readings alone cannot capture the emotional and psychological impact of breathing poor quality air, something many of our students know firsthand.

Practical Skills for Everyday Protection

The class closed with a discussion on what actions people can take during periods of poor air quality.

  • If outdoor air quality is bad, close windows, limit strenuous exercise, and consider wearing a mask.

  • Indoors, increase fresh airflow when air quality is good, avoid harsh chemical air fresheners, use fans and air filters, and change filters regularly.

And there is more to come. In their next session, students will build their own DIY air filtration systems.

About Nuevas Voces

Nuevas Voces, also known as New Voices, is WRWC’s 10 month bilingual advocacy program designed to empower Providence neighbors with the knowledge, skills, and confidence to become community leaders. Through classroom learning and hands-on site visits, participants explore public health, environmental science, flooding, transportation, toxic exposures, wastewater treatment, community organizing, and more.

Classes are led by Co-Facilitators María José Gutiérrez and Sayda Arriaza, both alumni of the program. To support working families, we offer stipends for each class, free meals, childcare, and flexible scheduling.

Since 2020, more than 50 residents have graduated. Many now influence projects and policies across the city through their work with the Nine Neighborhood Fund Participatory Budgeting Initiative, the Olneyville Neighborhood Association, the Urban Growers Leadership Program, ONE Neighborhood Builder Resident Advisory Committee, the Providence School Board, the Joslin Community Garden Committee, the PVD Tree Plan, and other community driven efforts.