Environment Committee Meeting on 6-18-24:
Environmental Justice Thriving Communities Technical Assistance Centers (EJ TCTACs) and U.S. EPA Community Change Grants
Presentations:
- Overview of Justice40 and U.S. EPA Environmental Justice Programs – Edith Makra, Director of Environmental Initiatives, Metropolitan Mayors Caucus
- EJ TCTACs Overview and Great Lakes EJ TCTAC – Jen Fuller, PhD, Technical Assistance Specialist, Great Lakes TCTAC, and Lisa Merrifield, Sustainable Communities Specialist, University of Illinois Extension
- U.S. EPA EJ Grants:
- Great Lakes EJ Thriving Communities Grantmaking (TCGM) Program – Jumana Vasi, Director, Great Lakes TCGM
- Community Change Grants – Jen Fuller, PhD, Technical Assistance Specialist, Great Lakes TCTAC
- Identifying Community-Based Organizations for Partnerships on Community Change Grants and Other Grant Applications – Jodi Trendler, ALM Sustainability Candidate, Harvard University Extension School, and Founding Chair, Naperville Environment and Sustainability Task Force
- EJ Community Needs and Capacity for Grants:
- South Suburban Mayors & Managers Association (SSMMA) EJ Community Needs and Capacity for Grants – Kristi DeLaurentiis, Executive Director, SSMMA
- City of Elgin Justice40 Initiative Census Tracts – Tom Armstrong, Chair, City of Elgin Sustainability Commission, and Kristin Youngmeyer, Sustainability Analyst
Resources:
- Low-income and disadvantaged communities (LIDACs) list from our Priority Climate Action Plan (PCAP) – Of the 275 Caucus communities, 180 have Census tracts within their jurisdictions designated as “low income and disadvantaged” (or LIDAC) using U.S. EPA tools. View our LIDAC list to find out if your community has a low-income and disadvantaged community Census tract. The region’s LIDAC analysis was done by the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) as a part of our Priority Climate Action Plan and is available in PDF and Excel formats on our Climate Change webpage.
- Great Lakes TCTAC website – where you can request technical assistance or sign up for the newsletter, which contains grant information, training opportunities, and success stories
- Key resources that Great Lakes TCTAC recommends:
- EPA’s Community Change Grants Technical Assistance
- Environmental Protection Network’s Accessing Federal Funding webpage – includes guides on how to apply for Community Change Grants and other funding opportunities
- Blacks in Green TCTAC website – where you can request technical assistance or sign up for the newsletter
- Key government resources that Blacks in Green recommends:
- Invest.gov – highlights state-by-state progress mobilized by the Investing in America agenda across private investments and public infrastructure
- Build.gov – Detailed maps of progress, comprehensive guidebook, technical assistance guide, open funding opportunities, state fact sheets, and more
- Cleanenergy.gov – Information on Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) tax credits and rebates for families and direct pay for governmental entities, IRA Guidebook on IRA programs, technical assistance guide, IRA open funding opportunities, and more
- Minneapolis Foundation – Watch this website for updates about the Great Lakes EJ Thriving Communities Grantmaking (TCGM) Program. The program, which will not be starting until later this year, will distribute small grants ($75,000-$350,000) to strengthen the capacity of underserved communities to address environmental and public health challenges.
Return to the Environment Committee webpage.