Flooding and Sewage Coalition:
Community-Led Solutions and Policy Advocacy
Who are we?
We’re a cross-regional coalition working to address flooding and sewage issues on the South and West Sides of Chicago, the South Suburbs, and Northwest Indiana.
What’s the problem?
Frequent flooding disproportionately affects vulnerable communities, leading to property damage, public health risks, and economic instability. With new commitments from Chicago and Cook County to address historical disinvestment, we have a unique opportunity to address persistent community flooding and sewage backups in communities with failing water infrastructure.
What’s the opportunity?
Your voice, as a community member, is critical to:
- Help identify and prioritize key flooding and sanitation challenges in your communities.
- Share real‑world, on‑the‑ground insights that help us make sense of the data and shape our policy work.
- Offer practical guidance to city and county staff as they plan and build stormwater and sewer projects.
By sharing your lived experiences, you can help validate where flooding and sewage impacts are happening, explain how severe those impacts are, and identify what may be missing from official data. This information will help data and policy analysts better understand how flooding vulnerability should be defined and how future tools and policy recommendations should be shaped.
The goal is not just to collect stories. The goal is to ensure that community knowledge helps influence decisions about infrastructure, funding, planning, and policy.
How can you or your organization contribute?
- Join our email list to learn about community events and opportunities to speak out.
- Tell us about problems you are facing such as wet basements, sewer backups, flooding or foundation damage.
- Share your story about how flooding and sewage disparities are impacting you!
Join us at a community event!
Share your lived experience, network, and build coalition at an upcoming community event.
- Center for Neighborhood Technology and Light Up Lawndale: Thursday, July 16, 6:00-8:00 pm at the Columbus Park Refectory, 5701 W Jackson Blvd, Chicago
- Rising Waters – A Community Mixer: Saturday, July 18, 2:30-4:30 pm at the Avalon Branch Library, 8148 S Stony Island Ave, Chicago. Share your lived experience around flooding in your community. Learn practical steps toward flooding prevention, preparation and restoration. Build your network of other grassroots organizations, community members and environmental justice advocates working in flooding and stormwater management.
For more information, contact:
Bre’Shaun Reddick, Local Partnerships & Project Manager, floodingandsewage@greatlakes.org
Download an overview of this project.
Current Coalition partners
 |  |  | Equitable Resilience & Sustainability |
| Little Village Environmental Justice Organization | NeighborSpace | Southeast Environmental Task Force |