The Completion of the Resilient Fairfield Initiative and the Launch of the Fairfield Resilient Action Network (FRAN)

The Resilient Fairfield Initiative wraps up on December 13th. That’s the three-year public/private partnership with the City of Fairfield, Maharishi International University, and 55 dedicated citizens and businesses. This effort led to the hiring of Faith Reeves — just two years ago, in November 2023 -as the community’s Sustainability Coordinator. In the early months, about 35 volunteers formed the Resilient Action Committee (RAC), created subcommittees, and began researching community concerns. Under Faith’s guidance, these teams spent the next year and a half developing a comprehensive Resilient Action Plan, completing a detailed set of recommendations by mid-2025. With Phase 1 complete, the community is now ready to move into Phase 2: executing the plan and launching early projects.

What were the results? Over the past two years, six teams met twice a month to research and develop potential solutions to Fairfield’s most pressing challenges. Thanks to Faith and the RAC’s 35+ volunteers, the plan now exists. It offers 15 realistic, multistage recommendations addressing food security, waste reduction, ecosystem enhancement, water quality improvement, and more. (See the 2025 report on the PLAN results at https://tinyurl.com/53j5pt38https://tinyurl.com/pkhe84kr

What’s next? We’re now ready for Phase 2: implementation. Ideally, this work would be supported by a permanent, fully funded Sustainability Coordinator within city staff. Given the city’s current budget constraints, however, additional community capacity is needed to move the plan forward in a timely way.

To meet this need, the Resilient Fairfield Initiative team has formed a nonprofit organization, the Fairfield Resilient Action Network (FRAN), to carry out Phase 2. With support from our broader community, FRAN will continue Faith’s role as champion of these recommendations. She will identify funding opportunities, build partnerships to implement and complete projects, and continue engaging qualified volunteers from the community. The Resilient Action Plan is a living document, designed to evolve as projects are accomplished, new challenges arise, and community needs shift, so Faith will help ensure it remains relevant, actionable, and responsive over time. She will also coordinate closely with partners working to strengthen Fairfield, including the city, Main Street Fairfield, Grow Fairfield, and others.

FRAN will be launching officially soon. Stay tuned to learn more and find out how you can participate.

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