Cooling Communities: Strategic Partnerships for Heat Resilience in the Carolinas

Extreme heat is an escalating public health and economic threat, particularly in rural, low-income communities across the Southeastern United States. In these areas, aging infrastructure, high energy burdens, and chronic health disparities intersect to create acute vulnerability during periods of excessive heat. Cooling Communities is a seed initiative that brings together community leadership, trusted faith-based institutions, and financial innovation to explore scalable, locally rooted strategies for heat resilience. Rather than prescribing solutions, the initiative focuses on listening, cocreation, and building the foundations for long-term capacity. It is grounded in the belief that effective heat resilience must be community-informed, operationally sustainable, and responsive to local needs.