Empower CAA's Mission for a Safer Community

Hi,

My name is Alyssa Carpenter, and for over five years, I’ve been fighting for a healthier, safer future for our community. As co-founder and Director of Citizens for Arsenal Accountability (CAA), I’ve worked to end toxic open burning, advocate for advanced technologies, and demand truth, transparency, and accountability in the face of environmental injustice—right in our own backyard.

CAA originally formed in 2017, but I revived the organization in 2020 after losing my thyroid to illness I believe is linked to local pollution. Since then, I’ve worked with local and national legal teams, secured grant funding for awareness campaigns, published our report, An Explosive Problem, with the help of lawyers, helped film our documentary Fallout, completed the Women’s Earth Alliance organizing program, and attended the University of Maryland's Environmental Justice Symposium—while battling ongoing health issues. I do this work because I believe we still have hope, and because in 2025, our community is more connected and more ready to fight than ever.

Together with our volunteers, Earthjustice, and the incredible Fallout team, we've laid the groundwork for lasting change by providing credible resources, building public pressure, and engaging decision-makers at every level. And this summer, we’re launching our next campaign—focused on downstream contamination, fish consumption safety, river recreation, and water justice. With your support, we’ll host community events, launch a public education campaign with billboards and t-shirts, and mobilize efforts to protect our health while celebrating our beautiful region. We need your help to bring our organization to the next level and create structure that will keep this work going.

We’re asking for your help to support 1–2 part-time organizer stipends to carry this work forward. With this boost, we can:

- Dedicate consistent hours to organizing and strategy

- Finish our website and community resource library

- Continue engaging Senator Tim Kaine’s office, the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors, and others on key decisions—like halting new housing near open burning sites and creating pathways to guidelines and regulations that are protective of our community

- Fulfill our grant from Women’s Earth Alliance to support a summer campaign on water safety and recreation

- Grow coalition partnerships and increase pressure for change

- Expand our legal collaboration with Ceasefire Coalition and others

- Potentially transition into a full 501(c)(3) for better funding opportunities and develop organizational structure

- Partner with NC State to pursue a follow-up health study in our community

For years, we’ve searched for a way to fund this level of organizing—and with your help, we’re almost there. This work involves hours of meetings, calls, legal strategy, content creation, social media management, and so much more. A little fuel for our team means a major push forward for this movement.

Thank you for standing with us—and for believing in what’s possible when a community comes together.

With gratitude and hope,

Alyssa Carpenter

Director, CAA