Catherine Coleman Flowers founded the Center for Rural Enterprise and Environmental Justice (CREEJ) as an effort to address the root causes of poverty in Alabama and to create a model for multidisciplinary, grassroots-led solutions that could be replicated in rural communities across the United States. Throughout her early work, one central issue that continued to surface was the lack of infrastructure, particularly wastewater infrastructure, necessary for sustainable economic development.

This has led CREEJ to focus on its current mission: 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.