Engagement

The National Coastal Resilience Fund (NCRF) is a national focused on reducing risks to coastal communities. The NCRF is now soliciting pre-proposals for coastal resilience projects that restore, increase, and strengthen natural infrastructure such as coastal marshes and wetlands, dune and beach systems, oyster and coral reefs, rivers and floodplains, coastal forest, and barrier islands that mitigate the impacts of storms and other coastal hazards to communities.

The New England Grassroots Environment Fund awards small grants in support of grassroots efforts and community-based environmental work in New England. The GROW GRANTS program is actively accepting applications from grassroots groups across New England. These grants fund small, volunteer-driven groups in New England working on issues including food access, immigrant support, climate resilience, youth work, mutual aid, and more. This program is geared toward groups with experience organizing in their community and have at least THREE leaders who are actively involved in group decision-making. 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.

This year, Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP)’s Recreational Trails Program will make up to $1 million available for trail projects. All projects utilizing CT Recreational Trails Grant funds must be accessible to the public. Grant amounts vary and will depend upon the availability of currently uncommitted state funds.

National Geographic Society is seeking to fund impactful projects driving science-based solutions to the growing threat of extreme weather events and natural hazards such as wildfires, hurricanes, tornados, droughts, floods, heatwaves and severe storms. Projects should aim to increase adaptability and resilience to these events and demonstrate tangible positive impacts on people and nature. Successful projects will demonstrate sufficient engagement with relevant stakeholders to ensure that project development and implementation are carried out for at-risk human communities and natural systems. Proposals for both new and ongoing projects will be considered. We encourage projects in regions most vulnerable to extreme weather events and natural hazards, as well as regions that currently have limited capacity for research and implementation.

The Urban Green and Community Gardens Grant Program provides funding assistance to develop or enhance urban green spaces for public enjoyment and/or environmental education. Promotion of open space in an urban setting may include, but may not be limited to, the development of a community garden or reclaiming and enhancing existing open space for the public’s use. Grants are awarded to projects that demonstrate the highest ability to benefit urban communities in close proximity to population centers.

EPA WaterTA aims to assist communities with applications for federal funding, quality infrastructure, and reliable water services in partnership with drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater utilities and local government. If your community is facing drinking water, wastewater, or stormwater challenges, you can submit a request for no-cost, direct assistance using the WaterTA Request Form. Please note that WaterTA is not a grant program, nor does it provide direct monetary assistance. 

The National Coastal Resilience Fund (NCRF) is a national program focused on reducing risks to coastal communities. The NCRF is now soliciting pre-proposals for projects that will create and/or 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.

The Connecticut Conference of Municipalities (CCM) recently released a comprehensive report on understanding and addressing the occurrence of local flooding. Developed in collaboration with leading engineering firm Fuss & O’Neill, the study was motivated by the need to address the growing concerns surrounding flood risks across Connecticut. The report evaluates current flood management practices and outlines a series of strategic interventions actionable recommendations to enhance community resilience.

FEMA’s National Resilience Guidance document is intended to help all individuals, communities, and organizations understand our nation’s vision for resilience, the key principles that must be applied to strengthen resilience, and the players and systems that contribute to resilience. It also outlines how to strengthen resilience by organizing and engaging people, incorporating resilience concepts into planning efforts, creating change through policies, prioritizing projects and programs, financing resilience efforts, and measuring and evaluating resilience. Finally, the NRG includes a Resilience Maturity Model that illustrates stages in the evolution of a community’s approach to resilience.

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.

The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 provides EPA with $3 billion to fund zero-emission port equipment and infrastructure as well as climate and air quality planning at U.S. ports. This new funding program will build on EPA’s Ports Initiative that helps our nation’s ports, a critical part of our infrastructure and supply chain, address public health and environmental impacts on surrounding communities. EPA has announced two separate Notices of Funding Opportunities to disburse the allocated $3 billion – the Zero-Emission Technology Deployment Competition AND the Climate and Air Quality Planning Competition.

The NCRF is a national program with the goal of enhancing protection for coastal communities from the impacts of storms, floods, and other natural coastal hazards and to improve habitats for fish and wildlife. This year, NFWF will award approximately $140 million in grants for the planning, design, and implementation of natural and nature-based solutions.

The Working Lands Climate Corps will provide technical training and career pathway opportunities for young people, helping them deliver economic benefits through climate-smart agriculture solutions for farmers and ranchers across the country, now and in the future. The Working Lands Climate Corps is part of the American Climate Corps, a workforce training and service initiative that is working to ensure more young people have access to the skills-based training needed for good paying careers in the clean energy and climate resilience economy.

The Agricultural Nonpoint Source Abatement and Control Program is a cost-share grant program that provides funding to address and prevent potential water quality issues that stem from farming activities. Financial and technical assistance supports the planning and implementation of on-farm projects with the goal of improving water quality in New York’s waterways. The program seeks to support New York’s diverse agricultural businesses in their efforts to implement best management practice systems that improve water quality and environmental stewardship.

The Agricultural Nonpoint Source Abatement and Control Program awards water quality protection projects that focus on environmental planning and best management practice systems. Projects include conservation measures, such as nutrient management through manure storage, vegetative buffers along streams, and conservation cover crops.

$5.9 million is now available for community-based organizations for projects that address exposure of communities to multiple environmental harms and risks. Eligible applicants are Tribal Organizations and not-for-profit community-based organizations having 501(c)(3) status, or a community-based organization may partner with a NFP that will serve as their fiscal sponsor. Eligible projects must address a community’s exposure to multiple environmental harms and risks and include a new research component that will be used to expand the knowledge of the affected community.

The NYS Department of State (NYSDOS) is soliciting applications from eligible municipalities, community-based not-for-profit organizations, and NYC Community Boards for Brownfield Opportunity Area Program funding. Funds are available for projects that establish or implement strategies for community redevelopment of areas affected by historical disinvestment, vacant and blighted properties, and the presence or potential presence of brownfields.

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.

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.

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 Healthy Communities Grant Program is EPA New England’s main competitive grant program to work directly with communities to reduce environmental risks to protect and improve human health and the quality of life. he Healthy Communities Grant Program will achieve this through identifying and funding projects that:
– Target resources to benefit communities at risk.
– Assess, understand, and reduce environmental and human health risks.
– Increase collaboration through partnerships and community-based projects.
– Build institutional and community capacity to understand and solve environmental and human health problems.
– Achieve measurable environmental and human health benefits.

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 $400,000 is expected to be available for grants in 2025. 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 the second round of this program focused on the Long Island Sound watershed area within New York and Connecticut. The purpose of the Long Island Sound Community Impact Fund (LISCIF) is to provide technical and financial assistance to communities to address environmental issues and improve the quality and accessibility of the Long Island Sound. Technical assistance will be provided through LISCIF and is available to communities/organizations even if one does not submit a funding proposal.  

The Atlantic Coastal Fish Habitat Partnership (ACFHP) is requesting project applications to restore and conserve habitat necessary to support coastal, estuarine-dependent, and diadromous fish species along the U.S. Atlantic Coast. Federal funding available through the National Fish Habitat Partnership (NFHP) program will be used to support the top ranked proposals. To ensure available funding is being directed most effectively, projects should be geared toward meeting ACFHP’s conservation objectives described in its Conservation Strategic Plan.

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) is seeking proposals to restore the health and living resources of Long Island Sound (Sound). 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 Partnership (LIS Partnership). Major funding is from EPA through the LIS Partnership.

In order to respond promptly to funding opportunities from various sources, ACFHP is soliciting applications for habitat conservation projects in need of funding that align with ACFHP’s objectives and priority habitats. The Request for Proposals is not linked to a specific funding source. Instead, newly submitted projects reviewed and approved by ACFHP will be added to our project database and recommended as funding becomes available.

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 project restored 46 acres of the Great Meadows Marsh in Connecticut that was degraded from dredge material that was dumped on site, poor drainage, and sea level rise. The marsh was also overrun with invasive plants and mosquitoes. A controlled fire was started to kill the invasive reeds growing in the marsh. Then a construction crew removed invasive plants and the dumped dredge material. Lastly, channels were carefully dug for tidal flushing which will allow the marsh to keep pace with sea level rise. Soil hummocks were constructed for Salt Marsh Sparrow habitat. Now the area continues to be monitored, assessed for resiliency, and provides a field for innovative solutions to be tested in.

Partners

Trustees: USFWS, NOAA, State of Connecticut; Project Partners: Audubon Connecticut, Town of Stratford

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.

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.