Thursday, February 1st from Noon-2PM ET
The Environmental Protection Network (EPN) joined us to host an informational session to learn more about the application process for this exciting funding opportunity, the Environmental Protection Agency’s Community Change grant, with extra space for networking and questions and answers.
The EPA’s Environmental and Justice Community Change Grants program (Community Change Grants) benefits disadvantaged communities through projects that reduce pollution, increase community climate resilience, and build community capacity to address environmental and climate justice challenges. The objective of the grant is to fund community-driven, changemaking projects that center collaborative efforts around healthier, safer, and more prosperous communities.
There has been a lot of buzz about this unique funding opportunity. The first hour focused on a formal presentation and ample time for questions and answers. The second hour allowed time for networking and conversation from groups in the region who are applying, or considering applying for this grant.
This event is part of the ReImagine Appalachia Grant of the Month Club Series, an ongoing series which aims to share information on a funding streams and resources that we believe are of particular interest to rural communities, communities facing energy transition or deindustrialization, historically disinvested communities, and/or Appalachian communities.
Resources Shared:
- Link to see the map of communities defined as disadvantaged for the purposes of this grant.
- EPN’s 6 Step Application Process Guide
- EPN’s Technical Assistance Inquiry Form
- EPA email for Questions regarding the Change Grant: CCGP@epa.gov
- Just Transition Fund (justtransitionfund.org) is a group that provides grants and technical assistance to organizations and local governments located in coal-impacted communities to support applications for federal funding.
Two ReImagine Appalachia blogs that may interest you:
- Four funding trackers we like for finding new federal grant opportunities.
- Recommended trackers for are tracing where federal investments are going.
Additional Resources:
- Public funding opportunity guides: We provide application guides with templates, samples, FAQs, checklists, partner surveys, etc., that we post on our website and send to thousands of organizations nationally via our bimonthly(ish) federal funding and opportunities guidance email.
- Webinars and convenings: We participate in and host convenings and webinars for smaller groups and create opportunities for potential applicants to ask questions, brainstorm ideas, and find potential partners. Our current priorities are the EPA EJ Community Change grants, Indoor Air Pollution at Schools, and the pass-through Grantmakers grants.
- Office hours: We provide additional support for smaller groups with our bi-weekly SAM.gov office hours. We also plan to use this model to offer a number of additional types of office hours to help potential applicants work through other timely documents or forms.
- 1:1 support: Every day we provide one-on-one support to communities on their self-identified needs. Last year, we connected over 100 of our volunteers with over 375 requests for technical assistance, many related to accessing federal funding.
Our partner:
The Environmental Protection Network (EPN) is a 501(c)(3) and was launched in January 2017 to harness the expertise of former EPA career staff and political appointees to protect human health and the environment. EPN began its pro bono capacity-building technical assistance program in June of 2021 to help disadvantaged communities, community-serving NGOs, and under-resourced agencies navigate and understand government programs, data, and processes; gain access to partners, allies, and decision-makers; and apply for funding. Our 8 (soon to be 10) Community Outreach Associates, along with our more than 600 EPA alumni volunteers across the country, work on community-identified issues including petrochemicals, air quality, safe drinking water, brownfields redevelopment, Superfund cleanups, climate resilience, accessing funding, and more. To date, over 150 of our volunteers have provided pro bono assistance on more than 600 technical assistance requests, and helped communities access over $7.5 million in federal funds.