Founded by formerly enslaved people after the Civil War, Union Heights now faces a new fight—reclaiming its future through sustainable housing, despite a federal freeze on environmental justice funds.

Union Heights, a historic Black settlement community in North Charleston, SC, has been poised for transformative revitalization thanks to an $11.4 million EPA Environmental and Climate Justice Community Change Grant to implement Project 218. The Trump administration’s federal funding freeze has put the investment, intended to repair past harms and build a sustainable future, at risk.

Despite the delay, community leaders and residents remain undeterred.

Nestled between the South Carolina Port Authority and Interstate 26, Union Heights is one of the earliest remaining historically Black settlement communities from the Civil War era. Founded by emancipated people on the site of a former plantation, it grew into a vibrant, self-sufficient neighborhood through the 20th century, despite decades of systemic disinvestment and environmental injustice.

Union Heights Mayor Reginald Burgess knows this history intimately. He was born in the neighborhood in the 1960s.

“I remember growing up there; it was a predominantly African American community,” Burgess said in an interview with SACE. “It was never a community I would consider middle class—always lower.”

Burgess was born shortly after interstate developers built Interstate 26 Exit 218 straight through the community, displacing families and severing the once-contiguous fabric of Union Heights. Yet, for local kids, the divide became part of daily life.

“Growing up, we would go from one side to the other—we would call it ‘across the heights,’” Burgess said. “The streets in Union Heights are in alphabetical order, so we’d follow the alphabet across. But when you’re a young kid, the trucks and noise were kind of intimidating for a while.”

Community Work Continues Despite Hurdles

Project 218 was designed to help right past wrongs. It would fund weatherization for 50 homes, develop 2.77 acres of land at the former Exit 218 site into affordable green housing, construct a zero-energy demonstration home, expand workforce training programs, and invest in neighborhood leadership. 

The future of Project 218 now hinges not only on blueprints and community meetings but also on a federal courtroom in Charleston. In March, the Sustainability Institute—the nonprofit spearheading Union Heights’ redevelopment—filed a landmark lawsuit against the Trump administration after its grant was suddenly frozen, reinstated, and then frozen again without explanation.

The lawsuit, filed with the support of the Southern Environmental Law Center, alleges that the administration violated the U.S. Constitution by overriding Congress’s authority to allocate funding under laws like the Inflation Reduction Act. At the center of the case is a question with national implications: Can a president unilaterally block congressionally approved grants, even when lives and livelihoods hang in the balance?

For Union Heights, the answer could shape the next chapter of the neighborhood’s long fight for justice. The EPA grant was more than just a financial windfall—it was a long-awaited investment in the community’s future. From green housing to weatherization projects and job training, Project 218 was designed with the people of Union Heights at its core.

Still, Burgess is optimistic—and proud of how his community is pressing on.

“The people of Union Heights aren’t worried at all,” he said. “Life goes on for us.”

Monthly community meetings continue, and planning for new senior and community centers remains active. These new spaces represent more than buildings—they’re part of a long-overdue investment in quality of life.

“We’ve never had a pool, but we’re building one now,” Burgess said. “We don’t want anything more than any other community has.” For a neighborhood where Black children have lacked access to swim facilities—and in a country where Black children drown at higher rates—the addition is deeply meaningful.

“It speaks to the resolve of the people,” he added.

Reconnecting What Was Divided

Perhaps most symbolically, the new development on the Exit 218 site aims to reconnect the community’s divided halves.

“It not only connects the community but rebuilds needed infrastructure,” Burgess said. He hopes the new senior and affordable housing will welcome a mix of residents and bring economic diversity back into Union Heights.

He notes that environmental justice in Union Heights is about far more than carbon emissions and energy upgrades—it’s about fairness, safety, health, and visibility.

“It’s a great thing God allowed me to live this long and go back to Union Heights and build it up,” he said.

A Future Still Within Reach

Even with the federal freeze, the people of Union Heights are not waiting to be saved. They organize, build, and advance with faith in their collective strength.

Project 218 is more than a housing initiative. It is a testament to a community’s endurance and belief in a future where past wounds no longer define its path forward.