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Reflecting on the PNW Heatwave

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We have finally made it out of the record-breaking heatwave that passed through the Pacific Northwest this past weekend, hitting Seattle hard and sending temperatures soaring to an ultimate high of 108 degrees on Monday. This dangerous heat is indicative of a pattern of extreme weather due to climate change and underscores the urgency to adapt to what could become a pattern in the coming years, combat harm to the environment, and put as much of a damper on climate change as possible. The effects of the heat can also help us more clearly see the disproportionate ways in which climate change aggravates inequalities already present.

Extreme heat can be very harmful and often life-threatening. It can lead to heat exhaustion, and eventually severe illness and death due to a much higher possibility for heatstroke or cardiovascular disease. There are inequities in how different communities within Seattle are affected by extreme temperature. While those who are well-off can buy an AC or fan, or at the very least stay indoors, many people do not have that luxury. Unhoused people do not have any of these privileges, making them much more vulnerable than others. There are also people across the city that cannot afford different safety mechanisms to survive the heat.

Another aspect of the heat that contributes to inequality is that urbanized areas in this city (where there are more buildings, parking lots, and pavement) hold onto heat for longer and therefore put residents in danger for greater periods of time, while people in higher income neighborhoods with more greenery and trees are less in danger from extreme weather. This was recently highlighted in a heat mapping project, a joint project from King County and the City of Seattle.

The city of Seattle and King County are working to combat climate change in various ways. The city is pursuing key goals, such as electrifying transportation as much as possible, continuing a shift to clean energy for new and existing buildings, and pursuing other environmental protection policies. Meanwhile, King County is working on ways in which we can mitigate the effects of extreme weather, and perhaps slow warming. There are multiple tree-planting initiatives, “greenspace protection” under the Land Conservation Initiative, improvement of bus stop and park layout, especially in areas with priority groups that are more at risk, and more.

We may start to see weather like this happening more often, so while we are fighting the root cause of the heatwaves and snowstorms, make sure you are keeping safe and healthy as much as you can. During heatwaves, it is best to stay inside, keep very hydrated, and keep yourself informed about conditions.

Cities are the Engines to Drive a Green and Just Recovery

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Cities are the engines that can drive a green and just recovery from COVID-19. On Monday, May 10, Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan joined a group of leading global and city leaders to meet with U.S. Special Envoy for Climate, John Kerry, to work together to secure a sustainable and equitable future for all, followed by a panel discussion hosted by the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), a not-for-profit charity that runs the global disclosure system for investors, companies, cities, states and regions to manage their environmental impacts.

The virtual meeting, convened by C40 Cities, provided an opportunity to discuss collaborations on climate initiatives and continue momentum around a renewed sense of international climate cooperation. Mayor Durkan briefed Secretary Kerry on the climate policies and projects being delivered in Seattle and our commitment to inclusive climate action in line with the 1.5°C goal of the Paris Agreement. Speakers also shared ideas on how to build national government support for city climate action and ambition on the road to COP26.

Mayor Durkan also participated at the CDP North America workshop panel, “Breaking Through Barriers: How We Can Deliver on the Decade of Action”, and was joined by Marilyn Waite, Program Officer, Environment, William & Flora Hewlett Foundation and Jeannie Renné-Malone, VP of Global Sustainability, VF Corporation. 

Panelists discussed the many successes and challenges encountered along the way, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, as cities, businesses, and philanthropies work to fundamentally reshape our economy for a fossil-fuel free future.  

Here in Seattle, many City staff and departments were redeployed to support community members access basic health care and safety needs. Our greatest successes have come when we center community and work to build Seattle back better by ensuring those who have been most burdened by COVID-19 and climate change are the ones who will benefit most from our clean energy transition.  

For example, Mayor Durkan lauded that the City was able to give out $500,000 in Environmental Justice Fund grants (the most-ever!) to community-led organizations who are designing projects that will advance climate justice and directly benefit those most in need. Seattle is also working to establish a Green New Deal oversight board with community members and labor representatives to ensure a just transition and create better pathways and funding mechanisms to support good paying jobs in the clean energy economy.   

“Our economic recovery is tied to our climate and equity goals; We can’t meet our climate goals unless we are centered and realize the ways environmental injustice has happened so we can build our city back better”

Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan

In February, Mayor Durkan signed legislation making Seattle’s building energy code one of the strongest on climate in the nation. The updates to the energy code will require nearly all new commercial and large multifamily buildings to use clean electricity for space and water heating and maximize building efficiency and on-site renewables. In addition, the same criteria applies when existing buildings are substantially upgraded or space or water heating equipment is replaced.  

And in March, Seattle released its new Transportation Electrification Blueprint, a first of its kind, comprehensive City-wide plan that outlines how the City will move toward a clean and equitable transportation system. Through this work, we will electrify everything that moves people, goods, or services in and around our City in order to reduce climate emissions and air pollution, increase electric mobility options, and create a pipeline of green jobs and workforce diversity. 

Green Worker Spotlight: Moving Toward a More Just and Healthy City

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The COVID-19 pandemic has made worse many existing inequities across our communities. As we work to build Seattle back better, we have an opportunity to build a more just, healthy, and beautiful city.

Under a Green New Deal framework, we are working to eliminate our city’s climate pollution by 2030, advance environmental justice, and create good, green, well-paying jobs. We are doing a Green Worker Spotlight on three individuals who are not only rising to the climate challenge, but also continuing to lead their communities in solutions for all.

Edwin Wanji – Sphere Solar Energy
Recent solar workforce diversity reports show a lack of diversity in the industry. At Sphere Solar, Edwin’s team is working to make energy accessible and clean, and paving the way for people of color and immigrants in the solar industry to serve all members of the community, especially for vulnerable populations. This includes energy, water and waste infrastructure, transportation sector, supported by an inclusive and diverse workforce.

Solar Sphere has successfully delivered international relief projects in Haiti and Kenya, and are supporting a solar project with a local faith-based organization, leveraging grant funding resources from the local utility, and providing education and training for the historically BIPOC congregation.

Solar Sphere is working to advance a green economy from the clean energy, community resilience, and environmental justice standpoint, and hopes to increase capacity for providing strategic advisory support at the local, national and international level. Learn more here: https://spheresolarenergy.com/

Masra Clamoungou, Black Farmers Collective and Small Axe Farms

The COVID-19 pandemic has amplified the need for improved natural resources and access to healthy food and green space where communities can grow culturally-significant foods and medicines.

Farmers and farmworkers play a fundamental role within the green economy by being aware of the ways that natural systems interact and through responsibly managing the use of these systems and resources to produce nourishment for human communities.

Black Farmers Collective is working to reclaim Black and Indigenous relationships with the land, improve BIPOC communities’ food sovereignty, and guide discussions about racial inequality. Learn more here: https://blackstarfarmers.org/

Stuart Vázquez, Eco-Lógica

Bringing information and education to support communities who have been most impacted by environmental injustice get involved in green living is critical for living a more sustainable lifestyle.

Eco-Lógica is the first and only bilingual magazine about environmental and sustainability education totally free in the Puget Sound area. Learn more about Eco-Lógica here, and leave a comment below about how your job helps protect the environment! https://ecologicamagazine.com/

Apply to Join the Green New Deal Oversight Board

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The City of Seattle expanded on its history of progressive climate action by enacting the Green New Deal Resolution to help create jobs and advance an equitable transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy by prioritizing investments in communities historically most harmed by economic, racial, and environmental injustices.

Seattle City Council voted to form the Green New Deal Oversight Board (CB 119604) to advance the work of establishing a Green New Deal for Seattle. The Seattle Green New Deal Oversight Board is composed of representatives who are passionate about advancing an equitable transition to a clean energy economy, centering frontline communities and workers most impacted by climate change. 

How to Apply:
If you are interested in collaborating with a team of community leaders working on bold and transformative solutions to climate change and racial and economic inequity, we encourage you to APPLY HERE by April 16.

For more information, questions, or assistance with the application process please contact equityenviro@seattle.gov or call (206) 487-0007. 

The Oversight Board will work towards developing a workplan that includes:

  • A definition of what constitutes a policy, program or project that advances a Green New Deal for Seattle
  • Proposals for new policies and programs to advance the Green New Deal for Seattle;
  • Support in planning and implementation of City actions to make Seattle climate-pollution free by 2030;
  • City budget and legislative recommendations;
  • Engagement with departments and existing committees, boards, and commissions.  

The Green New Deal Oversight Board will be made up of 19 members appointed by the Mayor and City Council for a renewable, 3-year term.

  • Eight positions designated for community representatives directly impacted by racial, economic, and environmental injustices (including two tribal members and two individuals between the ages of 16 and 25 at the time of their appointment).
  • Four positions designated for representatives of labor unions.
  • Three positions designated for representatives of environmental justice organizations.
  • Three positions designated for representatives with experience in greenhouse gas reduction and climate resiliency strategies relevant to cities.
  • One position designated for an individual specializing in workforce training.

APPLY HERE by April 16.

For more information, questions, or assistance with the application process please contact equityenviro@seattle.gov or call (206) 487-0007. 

OSE Celebrates Black History Month

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February is Black History Month. In the spirit of celebrating Black excellence and brilliance, and in service to the expansion of our minds to learn from Black thought leaders in the environmental and climate movement, staff at the Office of Sustainability pulled together a reading list highlighting Black leaders at the intersections of environmental justice, climate change, food justice, outdoor recreation, sustainability and more.

Black excellence should be celebrated every day. We hope that elevating these writers can help us expand the canon of “must read” works that guide us as public servants in our mission to support healthy people and planet.

Emergent Strategy:  Shaping Change, Changing Worlds
By Adrienne Maree Brown

Black Faces, White Spaces: Reimagining the Relationship of African Americans to the Great Outdoors
By Dr. Carolyn Finney

The Combahee River Collective Statement
By the Combahee River Collective

Toxic Communities: Environmental Racism, Industrial Pollution and Residential Mobility
By Dr. Dorceta Taylor

Just Sustainabilities: Policy, Planning and Practice
By Dr. Julian Agyeman

The Wrong Complexion for Protection: How the Government Response to Disaster Endangers the African American Community
By Dr. Robert Bullard

Dumping in Dixie: Race, Class and Environmental Quality
By Dr. Robert Bullard

Environmental Health and Racial Equity in the United States
By Dr. Robert Bullard, Dr. Glenn Johnson, and Angel O. Torres

All We Can Save: Truth, Courage, and Solutions for the Climate Crisis
Edited by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and Katherine K. Wilkinson

The Home Place: A Memoir of a Colored Man’s Affair with Nature
By J. Drew Lanham

Farming While Black: Soul Fire Farm’s Practical Guide to Liberation on the Land
By Leah Penniman

The Fifth Season
By N.K. Jemisin

The Adventure Gap: Changing the Face of the Outdoors
By James Edward Mills

Black Nature: Four Centuries of African American Nature Poetry
By Camille T. Dungy

Freedom Farmers: Agricultural Resistance and the Black Freedom Movement 
By Monica M. White

The Three Mothers: How the Mothers of Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and James Baldwin Shaped a Nation
By Anna Malaika Tubbs

Earthseed Series
By Octavia Butler

How to be an Antiracist
By Ibram X. Kendi

The Case for Reparations
By Ta Nehisi-Coates

City of Seattle and King Conservation District Community Partnership Grant Program Awards $426,000 to Six Community Organizations

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The City of Seattle and King Conservation District are continuing their longstanding collaboration to invest in natural resource improvements that are led by or in deep partnership with Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities.

COVID-19 has disproportionately impacted these communities, but has not changed the need for improved natural resources or access to healthy food and green space. Instead, it has amplified that need.

Nearly 30 proposals totaling over $1.8M were received. Proposed projects represented a range of activities and ideas including, community education and empowerment, green career pathways, youth leadership, arts, food sovereignty, food access, soil remediation, urban forest restoration, and many more.

This year, the King Conservation District and City of Seattle are thrilled to announce awards to the following community organizations:

African Community Housing & Development: Farmers Market for the Delridge African Diaspora Immigrant & Refugee Community

ACHD seeks funding for a new farmers market in the Delridge neighborhood, designated by the City of Seattle as a “Low Economic Opportunity/High Displacement Area.” The market will prioritize BIPOC vendors, and feature culturally-significant foods for the African community. They will leverage grant funding from other sources to purchase food at full price from farmers to provide free healthy food to food-insecure families.

Black Star Farmers: Walker Street Aquaponics Gardening Lab Project

Black Star Farmers in partnership with Black Farmers Collective will revitalize the Walker St. Aquaponics Gardening Lab by incorporating stormwater management and infrastructure, sustainable environmental design elements and renewable energy technologies in an effort to develop a renewable food system for the local First Hill, Rainier Valley and south Beacon Hill community. This project will include funding for a community member to serve as onsite management of the aquaponics and greenhouse system.

Hip Hop is Green: Cherry Street Farm, Lab & Culinary Anthropology Project

Cherry Street Farm, Lab & Culinary Project is a food security, food justice, health equity oriented, urban farm/teaching lab with greenhouse, onsite kitchen and community gathering space. Through a STEM lens, paid BIPOC youth interns learn to be environmental stewards while building community through a hands-on, immersive experience in building a garden, taking Culinary Anthropology cooking classes, communing with nature, and growing and sharing food with people in need via food box distribution.

iUrban Teen: Resilience, Innovation and Sustainability in a Changing World Project

Students will learn about soil sampling and soil remediation at YES Farm (continuation of last year’s KCD grant) at Yesler Terrace (three cohorts – 24 students). Students will learn about Climate Change and GIS Mapping and use AI as tools to research solutions (two cohorts – 24 students). They will partner with GirlTrek and Outdoor Afro to create four educational nature hikes for teens focusing on watersheds and creek restoration (four hikes with 12 students each hike).

Na’ah Illahee Fund: Daybreak Star Restoration for Sovereign Futures Project

Na’ah Illahee Fund (NIF) will partner with United Indians of All Tribes Foundation, Seattle Parks and Recreation, and community members to restore surrounding land, waters, and gathering areas of Daybreak Star in Discovery Park. Through revitalizing land, plant life, preserving sacred foods and medicines, and addressing park maintenance for increased accessibility, they will create a space for cultural preservation, learning, and activities for our communities.

Villa Comunitaria: Salsa De La Vida Project

This food access and food security project in the South Park neighborhood is organized and implemented by resident farmers called Promotoras. Funding will support farm infrastructure, soil remediation, farming, CSA distribution, traditional medicine kit distribution and cooperative development costs of the Salsa De La Vida Project located at Marra Farm.

This year’s grant process was delayed in order to hear from previous grantees about how the pandemic was impacting their projects. Based on this feedback and guidance from the philanthropic community, we shortened the application process, offered more opportunities for one-on-one support, and provided applicants the opportunity to give an oral presentation in addition to the written application. We also connected organizations to each other and gave them an opportunity to share lessons learned.

Seattle Awards Over $500,000 For Community-Led Projects that Advance Environmental Justice

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2020 Grants Are Largest-Ever Amount Awarded through the City’s Environmental Justice Fund

Contact: Lylianna Allala, Seattle Office of Sustainability & Environment, 206-276-4102

The Seattle Office of Sustainability and Environment, in partnership with Seattle’s Environmental Justice Committee, is pleased to announce $515,000 in funding will be awarded to 10 community organizations for projects that will advance environmental justice in Seattle. Funding of up to $60,000 will be awarded to projects led by and benefiting those most impacted by environmental and climate issues, including communities of color, immigrants, refugees, and Indigenous people.

“Here in Seattle, we must confront the intersecting crises of climate change, COVID-19, and systemic racism by making real investments in Black, Indigenous and people of color communities,” said Mayor Jenny A. Durkan. “The Environmental Justice Fund is investing in community-led projects that honor the lived experience of our residents and get us closer to achieving environmental justice.”

“The Environmental Justice Grant Fund has been essential in supporting our community members during the pandemic, as it has highlighted the struggles that residents and business owners have gone through over the past year,” said Tom Im, Deputy Director of InterIM CDA, and an Environmental Justice Fund grantee. “The City has been supportive in providing our project with additional time and flexibility, especially in light of the crisis we are facing.”

The Environmental Justice Fund was created as part of the implementation of Seattle’s Equity & Environment Agenda. It is overseen by Seattle’s Environmental Justice Committee, a group of dedicated community leaders whose goal is to deepen the influence of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color and to help shape Seattle’s environmental policies and work.  

“I was deeply inspired and honored to participate in the community review process, which was both a very gratifying and very difficult process,” said Karia Wong, Environmental Justice Committee member and grant-reviewer. “I was thrilled to read each proposal which showed the dedication and commitment of each community group to advancing environmental justice.

Seattle’s Equitable Development Initiative, managed by the Office of Planning and Community Development, matched $250,000 to bring the total Environmental Justice Fund to $515,000 in 2020, the most-ever awarded to grantees. This funding supports shared goals of both initiatives to close racial disparities in food sovereignty, environmental, and community health, while promoting culturally appropriate healing and methods of community leadership, engagement, programming, and policy development.

“Seattle’s Black, Indigenous, and communities of color are vibrant, creative, and resourceful, and must be centered in developing solutions,” said Lylianna Allala, Climate Justice Director with the Office of Sustainability & Environment. “I am thrilled we were able to double the amount of funds awarded to grantees this year, but the need far outpaces the available funds. We will continue working to identify and allocate resources to support community-led environmental justice projects.”

Overall, 46 proposals totaling nearly $2.5M were received. Proposed projects represented a wide spectrum of ideas and activities, including arts, community education, food access, green jobs, mitigation, climate multi-generational activities, youth leadership and more.

The organizations receiving funding and their projects are:

Black Farmers Collective – $60,000
This proposal will expand organizational capacity and provide watering infrastructure at Yes Farm – a community garden, farmer co-op, and community gathering space – that will expand their capacity to grow food and sustain crops that feed their community.

Chief Seattle Club – $60,000
Sovereignty Farm connects homeless American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) Apprentices to green jobs and is linked to the Good Medicine Café – a Traditional Foods Café in Pioneer Square. This proposal supports farming activities as part of their workforce development program. Good Medicine Café will open in October 2021 featuring a Traditional Foods menu, with produce harvested from Sovereignty Farm and ingredients sourced from local tribes and Native Farmers. The Café, a social enterprise staffed by homeless AI/AN apprentices, will educate patrons about indigenous foods, and host a monthly Indigenous Farmer’s Market.

East African Senior Meal Program – $60,000
The Environmental Justice Urban Farming project will resume and expand the East African Senior Meal Program at the Rainier Beach Urban Farm and Wetlands which has been on hold due to COVID-19. This program serves East African seniors through weekly opportunities to: grow food using regenerative practices, care for the wetlands adjacent to Lake Washington, share a healthy community meal, access to culturally appropriate foods, and access educational and civic engagement opportunities.

FEEST-$32,700
FEEST will provide living wage stipends for youth leading critical school food work in Seattle Public Schools. Youth will lead solutions at the intersection of health and well-being to address emergency school food response, housing, policing, and coordination with school food partners. FEEST will convene community forums to bring together youth leaders, direct service organizations, community partners, and school food decision-makers to directly address the gaps in food access for low income youth of color and bring forward youth-driven solutions. This funding supports capacity building support to build infrastructure to develop effective digital organizing strategy because of COVID-19 restrictions. 

Got Green – $60,000
This project supports engagement efforts that contribute to community led climate resilience planning and educational workshops at the intersection of climate justice, health, displacement, and emergency.  This work will inform their goal of establishing a resilience network that Black, Indigenous and communities of color can connect with in a climate emergency.

Hmong Association of Washington – $40,000
The proposal will directly address the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on Hmong farmers through their “Hmong Vegetable Farmers Visibility” Project. This intergenerational project will connect Hmong farmers with Hmong youth to share traditional farming knowledge through storytelling and virtual programming.

Lake City Collective – $60,000
This community empowerment project in the Little Brook neighborhood will focus on various environmental justice and sustainability (environmental, social, and economic) factors in the area, making this information easily accessible to the community, and creating an Environmental Justice Action Plan through a community-led visioning process to improve social and environmental conditions in Little Brook.

The Doorway Project – $22,300
This proposal will launch Bloom, a new place-based educational internship aimed at developing critical consciousness around food justice and homelessness. An existing youth-led garden at the University District Youth Center will serve as a gathering place for a cohort of young adults experiencing homelessness to learn about food systems, social justice and community organizing through a climate justice framework.

Unkitawa – $60,000
Through Unkitawa’s Indigenous Wellness Program, this proposal aligns food and medicine sovereignty goals. In partnership with the Duwamish Tribe, The Duwamish Longhouse Medicine Garden will be a hub of traditional medicines and knowledge that will serve as a space to gather and share resources. This project will also include a home-based garden component to connect community to gardening practices that center an Indigenous lens.

Villa Comunitaria – $60,000
This project will support ongoing food production through the Salsa de la Vida program located at Marra Farm. Activities include soil remediation and growing the Community Supported Agriculture pilot launched in 2020. In response to COVID-19, production and distribution of traditional herbs will be increased to meet the needs of the Latinx communities in South Park and Seattle via Traditional Medicine Home Kits.

Seeking Leaders for Seattle’s Environmental Justice Committee

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If you are committed to centering community needs in the City’s environmental work and improving environmental, health and economic conditions for our communities, apply to the Environmental Justice Committee!

Formed in 2017, the Environmental Justice Committee (EJC) strives to uplift those most-affected by environmental inequities. The EJC centers community ownership in decision-making, environmental program/policy design and Equity & Environment Agenda implementation while enhancing partnerships with City departments and better connecting community-based solutions into government.

The EJC consists of twelve members from a wide range of backgrounds and expertise in working with communities of color, immigrants and refugees, Native and Indigenous peoples, and low-income residents and individuals with limited English proficiency. Members increase their understanding of City environmental programs and receive funding to bring their learning back to their communities. Committee terms last two years during which members participate in retreats, monthly meetings and leadership development opportunities.

Applications are due November 15th.  

More details are included in the application materials (below). Contact equityenviro@seattle.gov with any questions.

Application Guidance
Environmental Justice Committee Application

Announcing the 2019 Environmental Justice Fund

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Deadline for proposals in September 16

In partnership with Bullitt Foundation, the Office of Sustainability & Environment is excited to announce the second cycle of the Environmental Justice Fund, a grant opportunity for community-led projects that invest in communities’ ability to improve environmental conditions and respond to impacts of climate change.

The Environmental Justice Fund was co-created by the Environmental Justice Committee—12 people with deep community roots who work closely with communities on environmental justice issues—with support from the Seattle Office of Sustainability & Environment.

The Environmental Justice Fund recognizes that the most effective environmental and climate solutions come from the community itself and that community members are in the best position to design and carry out projects that include community, culture, nature, family, health, food and/or education.

Communities of color and people of color-led organizations are invited to submit proposals for projects. Projects should be led by and benefit the people most affected by environmental inequities: communities of color, immigrants, refugees and Native people—including people with low incomes, youth, and seniors—who live, learn, work, worship and play in the City of Seattle.

There is $200,000 in funding available from the City of Seattle, with grants administered by the Bullitt Foundation. The maximum grant award will be $40,000. Projects may begin as soon as January 2020 and must be completed by June 2021. Proposals are due by 4:00 pm on Monday, September 16, 2019.

Proposals for Environmental Equity Projects Now Being Accepted!

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Project proposals are now being accepted for the King Conservation District (KCD) – Seattle Community Partnership Grant Program for natural resource improvement projects led by or are in deep partnership with communities in Seattle that are most impacted by environmental injustice and systemic racism. This year we will distribute roughly $400,000 to established nonprofits, tribal organizations, and community organizations with a fiscal sponsor. Community groups can apply for up to $75,000

The program advances the City of Seattle’s Equity and Environment Initiative and KCD’s natural resource priorities by funding projects that build community awareness about environmental issues, manage stormwater with green infrastructure, protect and restore water bodies, build healthy soil, support the urban forest and a sustainable local food system.

Organizations and groups are encouraged to apply for projects that benefit communities that have been disproportionately impacted by environmental injustice and systemic racism and that enhance natural resources through direct improvements, education and outreach, pilot or demonstration projects, or capacity building support.

Letters of Intent (LOI) are due by 5pm on Monday, July 15, 2019. All application materials and information regarding project requirements and eligibility can be found on KCD’s website. For more information, contact Jessica Saavedra, 425.282.1906.