Exposing America’s Dirty Secret
The Center for Rural Enterprise and Environmental Justice (CREEJ) began as a response to severe wastewater failures in Lowndes County, Alabama, where we found more than half of homes faced raw sewage on their property, both in yards and inside homes. Local residents were criminalized for the lack of functional sanitation systems—a problem entirely beyond their control. In partnership with leading infectious disease specialists, we exposed the serious health impacts of neglected infrastructure in a study that revealed the return of tropical parasites like hookworm. Since then, our work has shifted the national conversation on sanitation and inspired efforts to address infrastructure and public health challenges in communities across the country.
Grounded in Community, Driven by Dignity and Justice
We educate neighbors, scientists and leaders to challenge the issues affecting rural communities, championing effective solutions that restore dignity, health and opportunity in America’s forgotten places. Our mission is to reduce health and economic disparities and improve access to clean air, water, and soil in marginalized rural communities by influencing policy, inspiring innovation, catalyzing relevant research, and amplifying the voices of community leaders—all within the context of a changing climate.
From Lowndes County to the Nation: Restoring Health and Hope in America
CREEJ stands with communities across the country that have struggled under the weight of contaminated water, inadequate sanitation and neglected infrastructure. Inspired by the struggles and resilience witnessed in Lowndes County, Alabama, we know that raw sewage, unsafe water and broken systems have kept generations trapped in cycles of economic hardship and disease. We work alongside residents to break these cycles by bringing together local knowledge, policy expertise and innovative solutions. Our goal is to empower communities to create lasting pathways to health, dignity and opportunity.
Leading with Hope, Grounded in Community: One Fight, One Future
At CREEJ, we believe that change starts with listening to communities and giving them the space to tell their stories. We envision a country built on collaborative action, where policymakers and leaders genuinely hear community voices.
We fight for a future where the urgent impacts of environmental neglect are widely understood, and where sustainable innovation, driven by rigorous scientific research and local knowledge, paves the way for cleaner air, water and soil.
We are building a movement rooted in human rights, committed to empowering the next generation of environmental stewards and changemakers.
From Alabama’s Backyards to America’s Ambition
When our founder, activist, speaker and author Catherine Coleman Flowers, established the Alabama Center for Rural Enterprise (now known as CREEJ) in Lowndes County, she began with a simple question: Why are so many families living with raw sewage and failing septic systems—and why is no one helping them?
What started as a local effort to understand a seemingly simple problem quickly uncovered a web of complex issues: homes where sewage backed up into bathtubs, children playing in sewage-drenched yards, families threatened with arrest for infrastructure failures beyond their control and the shocking presence of tropical diseases linked to raw sewage exposure. Catherine soon learned that this was happening in both rural communities and cities across America—and around the world. She deemed it “America’s Dirty Secret.”
The first step in dealing with the shame of that secret was to bring it to light. By exposing what was hidden in plain sight, we found countless partners and renewed resolve to confront the broken systems that have burdened marginalized communities for generations.