The Flourishing in Community Grantmaker is offering noncompetitive awards to support capacity-constrained communities and community-based organizations (CBOs) within Region 2.
Donor Name: Flourishing in Community Grantmaker
State: New Jersey and New York
County: All Counties
Territory: Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 03/31/2025
Size of the Grant: $100,000 to $500,000
Grant Duration: 2 years
Details:
The Flourishing in Community Grantmaker, the Region 2 arm of the EPA’s EJ Thriving Communities Grantmaker program, calls for project proposals in the amounts of $150,000, $250,000, and $350,000. This funding will support community-led projects in Region 2 (New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands, Eight Federally Recognized Indian Nations) that aim to evaluate climate change and environmental justice concerns, design community plans in response to these issues, and execute these projects and plans at the community level to boost the growth and success of historically disadvantaged communities.
Phases
- Assessment Projects Phase I Assessment Projects are starter funds for local groups or new groups who need support with environmental or public health problems and must begin by assessing or studying the problem. These funds might be used to measure air quality, water contamination, or the prevalence of toxic substances in a particular area, or funds can be used to understand how well a group of people in a community or geographic area understand a particular environmental issue. Groups receive funding of $150,000 for one year to help understand the most pressing issues facing their community and to prepare for an action plan. They can use the money for different tasks like research, sampling, testing, monitoring, surveys, or even educating the public about the problems. The main goal is to support communities in understanding EJ problems facing them, to prepare to make a plan to address those issues. Grant recipients at this phase may be paired with faculty research support at participating universities and colleges to support their assessment activities if it would be useful to the proposed projects. These are examples of possible funded projects; other projects are also eligible for funding.
- Planning Projects Phase II Planning Projects are designed for groups in the community, or other qualified parties, that have a good understanding of their local environment and public health issues. They should be ready to come up with a detailed plan to solve these problems. These projects can be run by a single group or by a team of partner organizations working together. Usually, a Phase II subgrant offers up to $250,000 for a project that lasts 1 to 2 years. This money can be used for several activities like creating the project plan, building partnerships, educating and reaching out to the public, coordinating with community stakeholders, and training for community groups and members, including workforce development programs and education programs. The funds can also support community projects like cleaning up empty lots and buying small pieces of land, as long as these purchases don’t use up more than half of the total grant money. These are examples of possible funded projects; other projects are also eligible for funding.
- Project Development Projects Phase III Project Development Projects are aimed at community-based nonprofits and other eligible recipients who have a good understanding of their local environmental and public health problems. These groups should already have a plan to address these issues and are ready to start the critical work of the project. Building strong partnerships with people in the community is a crucial part of creating a plan and putting that plan into action. Typically, a Phase III subgrant provides up to $350,000 for a 2-year project period. There are many activities that might be funded under these subgrants, such as developing the project, creating construction or cleanup plans, working on permits needed for an environmental project, buying small lands that cost less than half of the total grant, putting project plans into action, or launching an education or workforce development program or project. These are examples of possible funded projects; other projects are also eligible for funding.
Eligible Projects
A wide range of projects that support communities to thrive are eligible for funding. Here are some examples potential projects community organizations and other eligible entities can propose for grant funding; many other projects are also eligible for funding:
- Research and Monitoring:
- Air quality & asthma
- Fence line air quality monitoring
- Monitoring of effluent discharges from industrial facilities
- Water quality & sampling
- Lead and asbestos contamination
- Pesticides and other toxic substances
- Research that is incidental to the project design
- Sampling, testing, and monitoring
- Investigations
- Surveys and studies
- Emergency Preparedness:
- Education and Outreach:
- Public education
- Environmental justice youth training
- Education pipelines and pathways
- Public outreach and education
- Illegal dumping activities, such as education, outreach, and small-scale clean-ups
- Training activities for community organizations and members
- Infrastructure and Environmental Improvements:
- Small cleanup projects
- Improving food access to reduce vehicle miles traveled
- Stormwater issues and green infrastructure
- Healthy homes that are energy/water use efficient and not subject to indoor air pollution
- Projects and activities to spur community involvement (e.g., cleanups of vacant lots)
- Planning and Development:
- Partnership-building
- Coordination with community stakeholders to address environmental issues
- Project Development:
- Blueprints for construction or cleanup projects, schematics, and technical development
- Work to get permits in place directly related to an environmental project Implementation of project plans
- Land and Asset Acquisition:
- Smaller land purchases and acquisitions that require less than half of the total amount of subgrant funding for the purpose of carrying out other eligible grant activities
- Job Training:
- Environmental job training for occupations that reduce greenhouse gasses and other air pollutants
- Workforce development initiatives, microcredentials, certification, and partnerships.
Eligibility Criteria
The entity applying for a project must belong to one of the following categories in order to be eligible for FIC grant funding:
- Nonprofit organizations (incorporated in New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands), state or federal;
- Community-based and grassroots nonprofit organizations;
- Philanthropic and civic organizations with nonprofit status;
- Tribal governments (both federally recognized and state-recognized) and intertribal consortia (i.e., a partnership between two or more tribes that work together to achieve a common objective);
- Native American organizations (includes Indian groups, cooperatives, nonprofit corporations, partnerships, and associations that have the authority to enter into legally binding agreements) spatially located in the EPA’s Region 2 (New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands);
- Institutions of higher education (e.g., private and public universities and colleges, including community colleges);
- Local governments (as defined by 2 CFR 200.1 – includes cities, towns, municipalities, and counties, public housing authorities and councils of government);
- The governments of Puerto Rico and of the US Virgin Islands.
For more information, visit Flourishing in Community Grantmaker.
