PHILADELPHIA — The City’s Office of Sustainability in partnership with the Philadelphia City Fund, is excited to announce the release of the Community Resilience and Environmental Justice Fund.
This Fund addresses the need to invest in the grassroot activism that residents living on the frontlines of environmental harm engage in every day. As such, this fund is dedicated to resourcing frontline communities experiencing environmental injustice to advance their vision of an equitable and resilient future. The grant fund is steered by the Philadelphia Environmental Justice Advisory Commission and supported by the Office of Sustainability and William Penn Foundation.
The Fund will provide 12 month, $10,000 grants to 15 organizations and projects working towards long-term environmental justice in Philadelphia, with an emphasis on projects that advance a vision of livable communities, free of environmental toxins and hazards. Eligible projects include coalition and collaboration building activities, community organizing, organizational capacity building, education, engagement, youth leadership development and more.
“In addition to working within government to find ways for departments to break down silos and collaboratively address environmental injustices, connecting frontline communities with resources to address environmental issues is a major part of our environmental justice strategy,” said Elizabeth Lankenau, Director of the Office of Sustainability. “We are very excited to see the projects that come out of this first round of grants.”
To be eligible for a grant from the Community Resilience & Environmental Justice Fund, organizations must be:
- Located in Philadelphia and serving Philadelphians experiencing environmental injustices
- Led by people most affected by the problem or issue that is being addressed
- Working on a long-term plan for environmental justice (see our blog for more details),
- and a 501(c)3 or a community-based organization (including school-based youth groups) working with a 501c3 fiscal sponsor.
A blog post will be updated regularly with updates on the grant fund. For more information of eligibility and applying, please see here.