In October 2008, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) awarded the Wichita Initiative to Renew the Environment (WIRE) a Level I Community Action for a Renewed Environment (CARE) grant. Level I CARE grants are awarded to communities with the purpose of fostering healthier communities by addressing environmental concerns.

Throughout the CARE Level I cooperative agreement, WIRE successfully:

• Built local partnerships within the public, private, and non-profit sectors to identify environmental health perceptions and concerns
• Collected historical data pertaining to environmental health perceptions and concerns
• Provided resources and informational materials to Wichita's community residents about environmental issues

In October 2010, WIRE was awarded a CARE Level II cooperative agreement. Our Level II is a collaborative project led by the University of Kansas School of Medicine-Wichita and the Environmental Leadership Council (ELC) to sustain collaborative partnerships dedicated to understanding, reducing and educating the community about toxic risks and environmental pollutants that impact inner-city Wichita.