BY TFN STAFF
The Funders Network, in partnership with the Urban Sustainability Directors Network, is excited to announce the latest round of Partners for Places Mini Grants. These grants are intended to help local governments, place-based funders and frontline communities build relationships, align project ideas, and center racial equity in water, sustainability and climate action work.
The Partners for Places Mini Grants are designed to spark new relationships or deepen existing connections that will help communities develop a successful Partners for Places project application in the future.
Partners for Places is a matching grant program that improves U.S. and Canadian communities by building partnerships between local government leaders, community groups and place-based funders. National funders invest in local projects developed through these partnerships to advance efforts to create communities that are sustainable, prosperous and just. These sustainability efforts take place from coast to coast, in communities both large and small, and focus largely on empowering and engaging low-income neighborhoods.
MEET THE NEW GRANTEES!
These six communities are the latest recipients of the Partners for Places Mini Grants:
Ann Arbor, Mich.:Amount: $15,200
Project title: Developing Legal Services Models for Community Stabilization
Project description: “Partners will develop a shared model of legal counseling for income-qualified homeowners to stabilize families by reducing the risks of displacement and asset loss while maintaining weatherization investments. Outreach strategies that build trust and participation will be developed with the frontline community and test participants.”
Frontline community groups: Legal Services of South Central Michigan, Community Action Network’s Bryant Community Center, and Housing Bureau for Seniors, Michigan Medicine
Funder partner: Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation
Benton Harbor, Mich.:
Amount: $15,000
Project title: Sustainability Office in Community Impacted by Emergency Management
Project description: “To facilitate stakeholder engagement and strategic planning for creation of a sustainability office that will provide local and regional leadership on GSI implementation, climate resilience, restorative community partnerships, and Justice40 execution in an environmental justice community.”
Frontline community groups: Project NEED Foundation and Michigan Sustainable Business Forum
Funder partner: Americana Foundation
Bridgeport, Conn.:
Amount: $20,000
Project title: Changeport: Accelerating Environmental Justice in Bridgeport & Beyond
Project description: “Seaside Sounds Club, with its multitude of collaborators, will innovate community engagement and bi-directional educational outreach in Bridgeport, Conn., and beyond, to powerbuild and prepare frontline communities to apply for newly available federal and state funds for environmental justice and climate resilience projects.”
Frontline community group: Seaside Sounds Club
Funder partners: Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation and Sustainable CT: Community Match Fund
Flagstaff, Ariz.:
Amount: $20,000
Project title: Mapping Flagstaff’s Green Spaces and Schoolyards
Project description: “Project partners will map and assess community infrastructure, access and needs in relation to green spaces/schoolyards. In response to Flagstaff’s Climate Action and Neutrality plans, this project will advance policies that promote racial and socioeconomic equity for the most vulnerable segments of our community to ensure climate justice for all.”
Frontline community groups: Ita Hopi Lavayi, Flagstaff Unified School District, and Terra BIRDS
Funder partner: Arizona Community Foundation of Flagstaff
Harris County, Texas:
Amount: $20,000
Project title: Equitable Climate Justice Partnerships in Harris County
Project description: “First, funding will go towards a local expert to help the three partners build a foundation of equitable collaboration. Second, funding will go towards the co-production of an equity framework and co-hosting preliminary community conversations for the soon-to-be developed Harris County Climate Justice Action Plan.”
Frontline community groups: The Coalition for Environment, Equity, and Resilience (CEER)
Funder partner: Jacob and Terese Hershey Foundation
Kansas City, Mo.:
Amount: $20,000
Project title: From Coal to Solar in KC’s Historic Northeast
Project description: “In response to Kansas City’s Climate Protection and Resiliency Plan, the purpose of this grant is to form a coalition to expand solar availability to low-income residents who have been most impacted by Kansas City’s only operating coal-fired power plant.”
Frontline community group: Jerusalem Farm
Funder partner: Marion and Henry Bloch Family Foundation
ABOUT PARTNERS FOR PLACES
To date, Partners for Places has awarded more than $9 million across the U.S. and Canada in this successful matching grant program, leading to more than $19 million in investments.
The matching grant program brings national funder investors together with place-based funders to support equitable and sustainable climate action and green stormwater infrastructure projects. The program is currently supported by six investor foundations: The Allen H. and Selma W. Berkman Charitable Trust, The JPB Foundation, The Kendeda Fund, The Kresge Foundation, the New York Community Trust, and the Pisces Foundation.
Read about the latest round of Partners for Places matching grant recipients here.
To learn about the previous round of Partners for Places Mini Grants, visit here. (All grant announcements can be found on the Partners for Places webpage.)
For questions about the Partners for Places Mini Grants or matching grants program, please reach out to Ashley Quintana.
PARTNERS FOR PLACES FAQ’S
→ Where is Partners for Places making an impact?
Read previous grant announcements and explore the Partners for Places Grantee Map here.
→ Where can I learn about completed Partners for Places projects?
Visit the Partners for Places Idea Bank to explore what grantees are doing, learning and sharing.
For more information about Partners for Places, please reach out to Ashley Quintana, ashley@fundersnetwork.org.