Led by Sol Alvarez-Taubin, Writing for Green worked closely with our client – The Bullard Center for Environmental and Climate Justice (the Bullard Center) – to plan, design and submit a successful program proposal for the EPA’s Solar for All competition. With a massive grant award of over $156 million, in partnership with the Clean Energy Fund of Texas, the Bullard Center will deploy technical assistance and funding to historically Black colleges and universities and minority serving institutions, to develop residential-serving community solar and storage projects in low-income, majority BIPOC communities on the frontlines of grid vulnerability and energy justice challenges. Projects are expected to operate in 19 states across the United States South and Southeast (EPA Regions 3, 4, and 6), averting millions of tons of CO2, generating utility bill savings for thousands of households, mobilizing private capital for a just green transition, and driving local wealth-building through community ownership. Writing for Green looks forward to continuing to support the Bullard Center with implementation of its Solar for All program, and to continuing to assist frontline environmental justice organizations in building capacity to transform their communities. Congratulations to the Bullard Center and Clean Energy Fund of Texas on this monumental award!
The Bullard Center Wins $50 million Thriving Communities Grantmaker Award with WFG’s Help
Writing for Green’s Courtenay Strickland was the lead writer, and thought partner, for this project, collaborating with The Bullard Center for Environmental and Climate Justice (BCECJ) to create a winning proposal for the Environmental Justice Thriving Communities Grantmaking (EJ TCGM) program. The project – which BCECJ will implement in partnership with Houston-based Achieving Community Tasks Successfully (ACTS) – will implement a grant-making program which will award more than $40 million in grants to non-profit organizations working to advance environmental justice and public health in the EPA’s Region 6. A key objective will be to remove barriers to federal funding for frontline organizations, making it easier for them to implement their work in the communities that are often disproportionately affected by environmental degradation, harms from climate change, and the attendant public health challenges. As a secondary objective, the program will provide a level of technical assistance and expertise that will maximize the impact of subrecipients’ funded projects. The grantmaking project will make ~232 grants; the primary outcomes targeted through this initiative are that CBOs working in the EJ space in underserved communities report increased capacity as a result of the funding, as well as improved environmental/public health conditions in the communities they serve.
$10 million Win to Build Capacity of EJ Groups
Writing for Green (WFG) played a vital role in securing a $10 million grant from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice (DSCEJ). The grant, named the Thriving Communities Technical Assistance Center (TCTAC), will allow the DSCEJ to serve as a regional hub, providing much-needed support to grassroots environmental justice organizations across the Deep South.
WFG’s contribution to the grant application was crucial, as a member of our team led the writing and development of the TCTAC proposal. The expertise of WFG in crafting compelling narratives and communicating complex environmental justice issues played a significant role in securing the funding.
Now that the grant has been awarded, WFG will continue to collaborate with the DSCEJ to ensure that the TCTAC program has a meaningful impact. WFG’s focus will be on supporting the DSCEJ as they build the capacity of grassroots organizations so they can do their work more effectively, and win additional grant funding. This will result in stronger environmental justice organizations capable of creating real change in their communities.
The successful partnership between WFG and the DSCEJ is a testament to the power of effective communication, and effective collaboration. In the past year alone, WFG principals have helped the DSCEJ to win $17 million in grant funding. The work of the DSCEJ serves as a reminder of the importance of investing in grassroots organizations and supporting those working to create a more just and sustainable world. We are thrilled to have been a part of this success.
$2 Million to Fight Climate Injustice
With short notice, we wrote a winning capacity-building grant proposal for the Deep South Center of Environmental Justice (Deep South), resulting in a $2 million grant from one of the country’s largest private foundations. The Gulf Water Justice and Climate Policy Project will bring together communities in the Gulf Coast Region to expand their capacities for climate policy action that tackles a significant, but overlooked, public health concern: community-exposure to hazardous industrial releases that occur during major flood events and storms. Deep South designed this project in recognition of the fact that the impacts of climate change are not felt equally. In the five states of the Gulf Coast Region (Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas), the unjust concentration of industrial facilities in and near Black communities exposes residents to toxic pollution and other environmental hazards. This exposure is made worse by the destructive effects of climate change that increases rainfall and supercharges hurricanes, which increase the risks of facility accidents and the migration of toxic substances from industrial sites to nearby homes and schools via stormwater. There is, however, no regional response that protects Black and other communities of color, who are disproportionately exposed to the double-disaster of a major storm and industrial hazard.
We are a trusted partner of Deep South, because we share the same values, and because our team gets results. This grant represents our third success in as many attempts. What are the key components to an effective partnership, between a service provider like us an client like Deep South? We think they include: trust, identifying and leveraging existing assets, genuine collaboration, and the willingness to be open and honest with each other.
$500,000 From EPA – Air Quality Monitoring
Generally, what are the main headings, or categories of information, you would expect to include in a grant proposal? – Answer 2
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A