Grants Awarded
Muskegon River Watershed Assembly – $25,000
Friends of the Muskegon River
Conservation projects that preserve, protect, restore, and sustain the Muskegon River are most efficient, impactful, and economically sustainable when local communities and stakeholders are actively engaged. This grant will enable the Muskegon River Watershed Assembly to create up to four "Friends of the Muskegon River" groups to facilitate local community and leadership development throughout the nine-county Muskegon River watershed. The "Friends" groups will help to identify priority projects and ensure that the scientific and technical expertise that MWRA and its partners bring to conservation projects is integrated with local community assets, economies, people, interests, and culture.
Legacy Land Conservancy – $15,900
Protecting Local Water Quality Through Permanent Land Protection
This grant will provide the final 5% needed to permanently protect 35 acres of critically important property in the Stony Creek region of the Huron River Watershed in southeast Michigan. The property is mostly wooded with extensive wetlands and 3,000 feet of frontage on a tributary to Stony Creek, which flows to Lake Erie. The property features vernal pools - seasonal wetlands that appear in the spring - that provide critical habitat that is vital to the forest ecosystem and is in an area that is at high risk for development.
Freshwater Future – $25,000
Increasing Capacity of Northern Michigan Environmental Groups
Northern Michigan (Northern Lower Peninsula and the Upper Peninsula) contains some of the state's most pristine and sensitive water resources - cold water trout streams, untouched Great Lakes shorelines, and high-quality inland lakes. Because critical decisions that impact water are made at the local level, community engagement in water decision making is extremely important. Without community-level structures able to engage with permitting and planning processes, degradation of water quality and environmental injustices can be created. With this grant, Freshwater Future will provide consulting and capacity building support to northern Michigan environmental groups to ensure that the capacity exists for sustained engagement and that strong, high-capacity organizations are working to ensure Great Lakes water issues are being addressed.
Eastern Market Corporation – $25,000
Eastern Market Microloan Revolving Fund
Eastern Market has an extensive portfolio of programs that support small food businesses and food entrepreneurs in Detroit, MI. Through these programs, Eastern Market has learned that the greatest and most common challenge that food entrepreneurs face when trying to grow or scale their businesses is accessing lending capital. With this grant ($25,000 per year for two years), Eastern Market and ProsperUs, a CDFI and entrepreneurial support organization, will pilot a new Eastern Market Microloan Revolving Fund that will provide microloans of $1,000 to $2,500 to businesses that utilize Eastern Market's business support programs and wraparound services. Borrowers will be able to use the loans to purchase or lease equipment, conduct market research, design marketing materials, secure inventory, or for other uses that enable them to reach the next level in their growth.
Colonial Williamsburg Foundation – $32,000
Worlds Collide: Archaeology and Global Trade in 18th-Century Williamsburg
Colonial Williamsburg will use this grant to create a contextual video to accompany "Worlds Collide," an exhibition of archaeological materials excavated in Williamsburg, VA, that will be on view at the DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum from October 2024 through October 2029. The display will highlight the diversity and interconnectedness of people in 18th-century Williamsburg and the globalized nature of urban life during the American Revolution by exploring the diversity of people, cultures and materials that collectively interacted in the 18th-century Williamsburg community. The exhibition will include objects that belonged to European colonists, free and enslaved Blacks, and American Indians that were either made here in America or shipped from Asia, Europe and Latin America. "Worlds Collide" is a central component of Colonial Williamsburg's celebration and commemoration of America250.
Asbury Community Development Corporation – $30,000
Asbury Farm Incubator Project
Asbury CDC will use this grant to launch a farmer incubator program in Flint, MI. Asbury will develop a business plan and pilot an incubator program that provides resources and training to new farmers interested in growing food for themselves and the community. The project will increase the output of Asbury's farm, engage the community, and enhance the local food ecosystem, benefiting Flint residents through improved access to nutritious, locally-grown food and a stronger and more resilient local food economy.
Slave Dwelling Project, Inc. – $8100
Keynote at the 8th Annual Slave Dwelling Project Conference Featuring Michael Harriot
This grant will support the keynote address at the 8th Slave Dwelling Project Conference, October 3-5, 2024, in Philadelphia. This year's theme, The Illusion of Freedom: Slavery in the Northern States, will explore American chattel slavery in northern states prior to and after the Revolutionary War in the 1780s. Michael Harriot, a columnist at TheGrio, staff writer on The Amber Ruffin Show, and author of "Black AF History: The Unwhitewashed Story of America," will present the keynote. The conference is being presented by the Slave Dwelling Project in collaboration with the University of Pennsylvania's McNeil Center for Early American Studies.
Live Zero Waste, Inc. – $10,000
Reducing Plastic Waste in Ypsilanti
Live Zero Waste, Inc. will use this grant to extend a successful plastic reduction campaign in Ann Arbor to Ypsilanti. The ultimate goal is to reduce plastic use along the Huron River, which has more microplastics than any other Great Lakes tributary. Live Zero Waste will use education and outreach to promote behavior change best practices in both communities to help people commit to taking concrete action to reduce waste and push for systemic change.
Growing Hope, Inc. – $25,000
Cultivating Accessibility and Sustainability in Ypsilanti's Food System
Over the past two decades, Growing Hope has continuously moved the needle to address chronic diet-related health diseases and food insecurity within the Ypsilanti area. Despite progress, many community members continue to experience barriers to fresh produce. Growing Hope will use this grant to invest in garden infrastructure for the farm on Michigan Avenue in Ypsilanti to expand fresh food production and processing and to ensure that the farm is accessible to Ypsilanti residents with mobility or other challenges.
Valley Forge Park Alliance – $25,000
Unveiling the Untold: Illuminating African American Stories at Valley Forge
Recent research has identified 112 civilians and 521 soldiers of African descent who were engaged at Valley Forge during the Revolutionary War. This grant will support an initiative by the Valley Forge Park Alliance to uncover and disseminate the often-overlooked narratives of these individuals. The initiative will offer a fresh perspective on American history by shedding light on the complexities of freedom and sacrifice, and will deepen understanding of the nation's diverse heritage through immersive tours and educational programs utilizing historic buildings as platforms for storytelling.
Make Food Not Waste – $25,000
The 2030 Project
In the fall of 2023, Make Food Not Waste (MFNW) proposed to help Michigan reach its goal of cutting food waste in half by 2030 by redirecting the food waste in Southeast Michigan's top 15 most populated cities away from landfills. Dubbed The 2030 Project, the plan attracted funding from the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy. In the first phase of the project, MFNW is working with the first city, Southfield, to create a tactical blueprint that will encompass the city's food system and incorporate national best practices in food waste reduction, rescue and recycling. This grant will support the second phase of the project, which begins in September 2024 and involves the implementation of the Southfield program and the adaptation of the blueprint to two additional cities - Dearborn and Sterling Heights.
Made By Us – $15,000
Civic Season
Made By Us' Civic Season program works to connect 18- to 30-year-olds to the U.S. national story. Only 27% of Americans in this age demographic have basic knowledge of U.S. history and only 16% are proud to live in the United States. Museums and historic sites, with credible expertise across the field of American heritage, can serve as trustworthy, local hubs for inspiration, curiosity and belonging. Civic Season, which is co-designed by a cohort of 10 museum staffers and 10 design fellows in the 18- to 30-year-old demographic, connects young adults with these sites and with their history and artifacts. Americana's grant will support Civic Season in 2024, which is estimated to reach 15M Americans by engaging more than 500 institutions in 50 states with more than 1500 programmatic offerings and events.
Huron Pines – $25,000
Catalyzing Community Action to Protect Lake Huron
Through its Lake Huron Forever initiative, Huron Pines works with community leaders, volunteers, and other organizations to implement projects that strengthen the health and well-being of residents and improve or protect water quality in Lake Huron. This grant will bolster Huron Pines' efforts in three Lake Huron coastal communities: Rogers City, Oscoda, and East Tawas. Huron Pines' direct engagement with these municipalities will ensure that local citizens clearly experience the connection between improved water quality and the enjoyment of places in which they live, work and play. In Rogers City, Huron Pines' staff will assist the city with infrastructure projects that divert stormwater from Lake Huron and educate the public about improvements. In East Tawas, Huron Pines will build partnerships with community and tribal leaders and private landowners to increase water quality protection. In Oscoda, Huron Pines will assist leaders at the Township level to protect important land along the Au Sable River that protects ground water recharge areas for water quality leading directly to Lake Huron.
Citizens for a Safe and Clean Lake Superior – $25,000
Educating and Advocating for Wetland Protections in Marquette County
Deregulation and devaluation of wetlands over the years has resulted in the destruction of about 50,000 acres of wetlands in Marquette County, 20,000 of which are in coastal areas. Citizens for a Safe and Clean Lake Superior (CSCLS) is working to raise local awareness of the causes and impacts of wetland destruction for Lake Superior and all who depend on it. Their ultimate objective is to build support for strengthening local ordinances to protect wetland areas. CSCLS will use this grant to engage a coalition of local environmental, civic, business, governmental, resident, and other stakeholders to coalesce around this cause.
Michigan State University Extension – $130,000
2024 Programming and Operations
This grant will be used for general operating purposes at Tollgate Farm in Novi, MI. Tollgate leadership and staff will use the funds to cover staffing costs, materials and supplies, marketing and outreach, and to prepare for emergencies and contingencies.
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