Education

Awards small grants in support of grassroots efforts and community-based environmental work in New England. The Grassroots Fund utilizes participatory grantmaking to move resources to New England grassroots groups working at the intersections of Environmental Justice. The program is geared toward groups who have some experience implementing a project in their community. Grants support groups to deepen their work by further developing a community vision, lowering barriers to participation, identifying new stakeholders, and working to bring more voices and lived experiences into core decision-making processes.

Supports the development of urban agriculture and innovative production activities by funding Planning Projects and Implementation Projects led by nonprofit organizations, local or Tribal governments, and schools.

The Trust funding interests include: Community development (affordable housing, economic development), Community-based health care (primary care access and delivery), Education (early education, K-12 public schools), the Environment (land and water conservation, parks and gardens), and Social services (hunger, immigration, seniors, youth development).

For more than 30 years, our Long Island Unitarian Universalist Fund (LIUUF), a field-of-interest advised fund at The New York Community Trust, has worked to address education and racial equity, environmental justice, and immigrant rights. The fund also focuses on LGBTQ+ advocacy, women’s rights, leadership development, legal and legislative advocacy, and community organizing. The fund was established by the Veatch Program at Shelter Rock.

LIUUF grantmaking reflects Unitarian Universalist principles and the Fund’s overarching mission is to build and energize a community of progressive social change activists, and to support prophetic voices in vulnerable communities who speak out against injustices—often in unsafe environments and at personal risk and sacrifice.

Guided by an advisory committee that represents Unitarian Universalist congregations throughout Long Island, the LIUUF has awarded millions of dollars to nonprofits in Nassau and Suffolk counties to advance grassroots progressive social change.

This grant program, supported by the State Environmental Protection Fund (EPF), is designed to advance projects that target both aquatic and terrestrial invasive species across the state, with six funding categories that address invasive species spread prevention; early detection and rapid response; research; management planning; and education and outreach.

TREE CITY USA Reward Grants
The intent of this grant is to encourage municipalities to sustain their community forestry program and maintain their status as a Tree City USA through a celebratory tree planting in which large specimen trees or a grove of trees are planted in a prominent location within the community. The grants are made possible by a combination of U.S. Forest Service grant funds and unrestricted NYSUFC funds; applicants are sought in spring and/or fall and must have been a Tree City USA for at least the past five years.

Quick Start Grants
Through U.S. Forest Service funding, the NYSUFC offers Quick Start competitive grants of up to $1,000 each to small communities who want to pursue Tree City USA status, starting with an inaugural Arbor Day tree planting celebration in spring or fall.

The EPOC Grant Program provides non-profit and not-for-profit environmental advocacy groups, community based groups and environmental education organizations funding for local projects that benefit the environment.

The Department’s Urban Green and Community Gardens Grant Program provides funding assistance to develop or enhance urban open spaces for public enjoyment and/or environmental education.

NOAA’s Bay Watershed Education and Training (B-WET) program is an environmental education program that promotes place-based experiential learning for K–12 students and related professional development for teachers.This funding opportunity focuses on projects combining long-term, classroom-integrated “Meaningful Watershed Educational Experiences” and capacity building for K-12 Environmental Literacy at the state and local level.

The Connecticut Society for Women Environmental Professionals Grant Program provides funding for local projects in Connecticut that benefit the environment. Grants of up to $2,000 will be awarded. Any application meeting the grant guidelines that is not successful in one cycle may reapply during any following cycle. The applications will be judged based on the environmental benefits of each project, in comparison to others. “Environmental benefits” can vary widely and successful applications have ranged from property clean-ups to environmental education.

This year, Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP)’s Recreational Trails Program will make $10 million available to improve Connecticut’s trail infrastructure, which has seen significant usage increases since the onset of the pandemic. This grant program aims to help support communities managing the trail usage increases that have endured as more residents and visitors become familiar with the more than 2,500 miles of multi-use trails and greenways that crisscross the state.

Awards small grants in support of grassroots efforts and community-based environmental work in New England. The Grassroots Fund utilizes participatory grantmaking to move resources to New England grassroots groups working at the intersections of Environmental Justice. The program is geared toward groups who have some experience implementing a project in their community. Grants support groups to deepen their work by further developing a community vision, lowering barriers to participation, identifying new stakeholders, and working to bring more voices and lived experiences into core decision-making processes.

Sustainable CT’s Community Match Fund is an innovative program that provides fast, flexible funding and support for engaging your community on wide-ranging sustainability projects. Eligible projects receive dollar-for-dollar matching funds from Sustainable CT.

NFWF will award up to $140 million in grants to create and restore natural systems in order to increase protection for communities from coastal hazards, such as storms, sea- and lake-level changes, inundation, and coastal erosion, while improving habitats for fish and wildlife species. NFWF prioritizes projects that are community led or incorporate direct community engagement and benefit underserved communities facing disproportionate harm from climate impacts.

The Long Island Sound Stewardship Fund (LISSF) is a competitive grant program seeking proposals to restore and protect the health and living resources of Long Island Sound. LISSF is interested in empowering communities of all kinds (including communities typically underrepresented in environmental programs and projects) to access, improve, and benefit from Long Island Sound, its waterways, and surrounding lands. Up to $500,000 was expected to be available for grants in 2023. The most competitive proposals will incorporate multiple values including sustainability, resilience, diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Sea Grant and the NOAA Climate Program Office, with support from the NOAA Office for Coastal Management, seek to establish programs aimed at placing people across the country into good jobs that advance climate resilience and assisting employers in developing a 21st century workforce that is climate literate, informed by climate resilience, and skilled at addressing consequent challenges. NOAA will assist communities in coastal and Great Lakes states and territories so they may form partnerships that train workers and place them into jobs that enhance climate resilience.

EPA Long Island Sound Study announced a new Environmental Justice (EJ) program focused on the Long Island Sound watershed. The Long Island Sound Community Impact Fund (LISCIF) will direct funds and technical assistance to communities experiencing or affected by adverse and disproportionate environmental and human health risks or harms.

The Five Star and Urban Waters Restoration grant program seeks to develop community capacity to sustain local natural resources for future generations by providing modest financial assistance to diverse local partnerships focused on improving water quality, watersheds and the species and habitats they support.

11th Hour Racing fosters systemic change to restore ocean health — our vision for the future includes cleaner, healthier waterways through strong local stewardship and collective action around the world. By supporting local pilot programs that model best practices of sustainability, restore coastal ecosystems, and advance ocean stewardship, our grantees are creating systemic change to restore ocean health. We are working toward a future of cleaner, healthier waterways through strong local stewardship and collective action around the world. 11th Hour Racing works to facilitate this transition by supporting local solutions to global problems, led by community organizations and industry leaders.

The goals of this funding opportunity are to enhance collaboration with recreational, subsistence, cultural, and non-commercial fishing communities, and to protect and restore habitat. Healthy habitat leads to more fishing opportunities and increased climate resilience, and there are numerous opportunities to advance habitat conservation by working together.

The Long Island Sound Futures Fund (LISFF) will be seeking proposals to restore the health and living resources of Long Island Sound (Sound) with approximately $12 million in funding in 2024. The program is managed by National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) in collaboration with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Long Island Sound Study (LISS). Major funding is from EPA through the LISS with additional funding from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Avangrid Foundation.

With support from the Nature Conservancy and Sustainable CT, East Haddam organized a Community Resilience Building process and workshop, the results of which were compiled into this summary. The team engaged with community members to determine the present hazards and vulnerabilities and identify resilient solutions.

This public greenspace was suffering from mosquito overpopulation, invasion from Phragmites, and poor tidal/stormwater drainage. The Wetland’s Habitat and Mosquito Management Program (WHAMM) created a new drainage area and tunnels, while also eliminating invasive plants. Then organizations and volunteers banded together to remove and replace invasive plant species with native plants.

This Avalonia and Sea Grant effort in Stonington, CT restored the preserve using native, well-researched plant species that would thrive in the forest and offer biodiversity. First, the area was cut down precisely to allow for new, ground-level growth. Then the preserve was seeded with plants chosen by the field team.