Get Involved

Join us to make a difference in the York community!

York Ready for Climate Action (YRCA) is a grassroots organization dedicated to increasing awareness of the causes and effects of climate change, and advancing environmentally friendly and inclusive policies and behaviors located in York, Maine. 

YRCA began in 2018 with a group of citizens upset by the lack of climate action locally. They came together determined to raise awareness and push for change. Early wins included the York Select Board signing on to the Global Covenant of Mayors and a Town pledge to reduce emissions 50% by 2030 and 100% by 2050. In 2022 group members were instrumental in developing and passing a Town Climate Action Plan, approved by over 70% of voters. 

YRCA’s focus is now on implementing the Climate Action Plan and making the town’s pledges a reality, with a particular emphasis on residential emissions. We aim to make the benefits of emissions-reducing home energy retrofits and sustainable actions accessible for all residents, regardless of income.

YRCA runs an Energy Coach Program, a monthly call to action called EcoHOMES, a waste reduction campaign, and many community outreach efforts and events. Our programs build community relationships, start conversations and share the benefits and feasibility of climate action, helping everyone shift away from harmful, polluting fossil fuels. 

Open positions: We don’t currently have any open positions

Volunteer Opportunities

Are you good with people and excited about climate action and sustainability? Come help out on Saturday, May 2, 2026 at York High School for our Climate Action Fair! We need help at food tables, information tables and kids activity tables. The event is from 10am-2pm, and we will ask volunteers to arrive an hour early for set up and training.

Become an Energy Coach! Coaches provide residents with individualized information and assistance to navigate home energy retrofits. An energy coach provides information on typical processes, financial incentives and available contractors, and stays with the resident with follow-up throughout the process. 

The coaches are process facilitators, not technical experts, but will receive training to work in this capacity. Must be able to provide excellent customer service and manage lots of information at once. Some familiarity with green energy technology is a plus. Our coaches are supported with a toolkit, access to experts to answer questions, and a peer learning approach for coaches to share knowledge. 2-5 hours per week.

With a bi-weekly column in the York Weekly and regular print, web and email outreach to our community, we have many opportunities for writers to get involved and help us out. Please let us know if you are interested in being a volunteer writer! 1-2 hours per week. 

Are you social media savvy and interested in helping us build our brand and presence online? We need you! We are mainly working with FaceBook at the moment, and need a volunteer to create content, (with guidance from our communications committee) post on FaceBook, and boost and repost content from partner organizations. 2-3 hours per week.

Are you good with people and excited about climate action, sustainability and community outreach? We need your help to keep a presence at local events. If you are interested in occasionally staffing a table or representing YRCA at events, please let us know. We’d love to have you!

Help us develop and produce monthly opportunities for residents to learn more about energy savings and take climate action on an individual, local and regional level. This committee meets 1-2 times per month on Zoom. We partner with area organizations to widen the impact of this outreach. 2-5 hours per month.

Register to Volunteer

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