Melody Arcia is the communications coordinator at SOUL (Sustaining Our Urban Landscape), a New Orleans nonprofit planting trees in neighborhoods most vulnerable to climate impacts. Trees are a critical solution to climate change. When planted together, they act as “green infrastructure” that draws down carbon from our atmosphere, manages stormwater, reduces street flooding, provides shade and cooling, absorbs pollution, and beautifies our neighborhoods. Inspired by her parents’ humanitarian careers, Melody shares that "helping people is in my blood." Melody says, “When you want people to care about climate change, you can't lose the people and focus on saving the environment. If you lose the ‘people’ piece, you pretty much lose the whole reason why we are trying to do this good work.” This is evident through Melody's work at SOUL, which is helping others by pursuing solutions at the intersection of social justice and climate change, addressing multiple stressors that our under-resourced communities experience.
Melody Arcia
She/Her
Communications Coordinator