Americana Foundation

This grant will support the expansion of Metro Food Rescue's Fruit Tree Harvest and Backyard Produce Project.  In this project, volunteers are engaged to collect unused or excess fruit from orchards and backyard growers and either deliver it to low-income families and seniors, or to local processors for use in making jams and jellies.

This grant will contribute to the construction of a reflection labyrinth at the Viewlands Reserve in Emmet County, MI and the installation of low-slope pathways at the Reserve to enable people with mobility challenges to access a wildflower meadow and other features.

Farmland is a highly specialized type of property that requires detailed knowledge transfer and trust between seller and buyer.  This grant will help shepherd Washtenaw County farmland to the next generation of farmers through a real estate website and land-linking support service connecting legacy farmers with farmers who need land.

Growing Hope will use this grant to equip the members of its community with the tools and knowledge needed to grow food, while uncovering their collective power to engage in, and develop, a more equitable food system.  The grant will be used to prepare the community to engage in food policy and to act collectively in order to preserve land for growing, and create spaces where food sovereignty can be actualized.

Americana's Next Gen cohort selected the D-LEEP program as a grant recipient to support efforts to work with students in Detroit and their families to plant wildflowers, trees, and gardens in their backyards and to connect with networks of other Detroiters who are growing food and/or native plants.

This grant will support the expansion of two programs in Genesee County: Inspiration Gardens, which features community gardens in which youth plant, grow, and harvest crops for their families and for donation to the Food Bank of Eastern Michigan; and Watch Me Grow, a floriculture and horticulture program for young people that the grantee administers in partnership with Motherly Intercession, a group that assists families with an incarcerated parent.

Americana's Next Gen cohort selected Six Rivers Land Conservancy to receive a grant to help repair and restore a pavilion, picnic tables, trail map, viewing platform, and benches at the Sutherland Nature Sanctuary so that they continue to provide education, enjoyment, and an outdoor nature experience to visitors.

Americana's Next Gen cohort selected Leelanau Conservancy as a recipient of a grant to support the Whaleback Restoration Project.  Leelanau will use the grant to remove several acres of invasive wineberry with the help of goats, and then seed the cleared land with native seeds.

MFNW has brought the international food waste certification, The PLEDGE on Food Waste, to Detroit and has committed to training 30 Detroit restaurants and assisting them in applying for the certification.  The program is expected to lower the restaurants' food costs, increase food donation and composting rates, drive diners to support participating restaurants, and promote Detroit's commitment to sustainability in food.  This grant from Americana will enable MFNW to work with restaurants to develop stories about their experience in the program to amplify the program's results and increase its reach.

The Straits of Mackinac are known nationally to be a migratory pathway for 17 different species of raptors.  Each spring and fall, the Mackinac Straits Raptor Watch (MSRW) works with professional raptor experts to identify and count migrating raptors across the Straits.  With this grant, MSRW will retain a professional educator with bird/raptor expertise to develop an educational program for the community that gathers during these activities.  Volunteer educators will use the program throughout the migratory season to inform the community about raptors, their natural histories, and migrations.

This grant will enable the Greening to build capacity to manage tree harvesting at the Greening's Meyers Nursery.  The Greening will use trees from the nursery to meet goals set by the Detroit Reforestation Initiative, which proposes to plant 75,000 trees in Detroit over the next five years.  The harvesting plan will include effective, efficient, and sustainable best practices for promoting increased tree production and will be implemented by dedicated teams of graduates from the Detroit Conservation Corps program.

This grant was requested by Marty Fluharty, Americana's past Executive Director, as part of a grant allocation that the Board of Trustees awarded in honor of her retirement in 2018.  Marty chose The Center for Michigan/Bridge Magazine because of her involvement in Bridge Magazine's early days and her ongoing commitment to balanced, well-researched, and unbiased journalism in Michigan.

At one time, the Rouge River was the most polluted river in Michigan and one of the most polluted in the Great Lakes.  Today, it is going through an amazing revival thanks to strong citizen involvement and advocacy.  This revival is being chronicled in a new book titled "Rouge River Revived", which tells the story of how people are bringing their river back to life.  This grant will support a book tour of all 48 communities in the Rouge River watershed to share lessons learned during this effort, inspire a sense of wonder for the Rouge River, and help develop a stewardship ethic in the next generation.

This grant will support the Growing Thriving Communities Initiative (GTCI), a program that helps increase food security by engaging community and youth leaders to grow and distribute free, fresh produce to Detroit residents, community organizations, and anyone in need.  Participants will utilize Cadillac Urban Gardens, a raised bed garden that grows for and with local community members, to explore urban agriculture and other environmental career fields through SDEV's youth summer internship program and expand the scope and reach of SDEV's Produce Distribution Program.  Through participation, youth will gain knowledge within agricultural and environmental fields all while supporting the growing, cultivation, and distribution of free produce to the SW Detroit community and beyond.

In 2020, Micah 6 Community purchased the essential elements of a new four-season greenhouse intended to expand capacity to grow food, with and for its Pontiac neighborhood.  During the pandemic, supply shortages, tumultuous staffing, and price increases on even basic construction delayed the delivery of the greenhouse and raised the price of construction beyond what was estimated.  This grant will provide essential funding needed to complete construction of the greenhouse and connect it to utilities.

This grant will support the launch of the new Give Back Great Lakes (GBGL) Initiative, which seeks to create regenerative relationships between the Great Lakes regional environment, society, and economy by catalyzing private-sector reinvestment in regional natural resources and communities.  GBGL will create a network of sustainability-minded businesses that collectively invest a significant portion of the regional multi-trillion dollar annual economy into internal sustainability practices and/or nonprofits that protect our natural resources and communities.

The Upper Peninsula Land Conservancy (UPLC) will use this grant to fund the purchase and permanent protection of 186 acres of diverse, healthy forest and nearly three miles of riverfront on the edge of expanding development in Marquette Township.  This land is easily accessible and beloved by the community, critical to drinking water supplies, and home to rare and threatened plants, animals, and geological formations, UPLC plans to make the forest an educational hub in partnership with local institutions.

With this grant, the Ecology Center and the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) will partner with grassroots group Need Our Water (NOW) in Oscoda, MI to create a PFAS community science monitoring and education program.  Under the program, residents will learn to sample and analyze foam on the surface of Lake Huron to determine whether it contains PFAS.  Ultimately, the model program will be replicated in other communities and be expanded to include sampling and analysis of water, wildlife, etc. for PFAS contamination.  The objective of the program is for PFAS-impacted community members to increase their control over decisions affecting their own health and support further advocacy.

Legacy recently took over the Raisin Valley Land Trust.  As a result, it has expanded its service area to include Lenawee County and its more than 340,000 acres of farmland.  This grant will enable Legacy to reach out to, and create partnerships, with landowners and stakeholders in Lenawee County so that it can continue critical land conservation work in its new service area.

Americana's grant will enable Huron Pines to provide professional planning and project management services to communities in Northern Michigan that are interested in land conservation and water quality improvements but do not have the technical knowledge or expertise to engage stakeholders, initiate strategic planning and priority setting processes, or leverage large funding opportunities.  Huron Pines' professional expertise will enable and empower Northern Michigan communities to develop long-term strategies that protect the natural resources and high-quality natural areas that characterize their communities.  

In partnership with the US Department of Agriculture, US Department of Fish and Wildlife Service, National Parks and State Parks, SER Youth Build Academy (SYBA) will use this grant to engage 40 Detroit youths (ages 16-24) in Youth Conservation Corps (YCC) projects, to preserve natural habitat at Michigan National State Parks to make them more attractive for visitors through various enhancement projects.

Planet Detroit is building a collaborative center for local journalism on environmental and public health news and information for Metro Detroiters.  With this grant, Planet Detroit will publish a 6-part series of informative digital guides to explain and connect issues related to climate change that can otherwise be difficult to understand.

The Alliance of Leadership Fellows (ALF) will use this grant to develop a series of Climate Crisis Dialogues (webinars followed by podcasts) designed to share perspectives about the differing impacts of the climate crisis and to build new connections between advocates for change.  Through this effort, ALF anticipates reaching thousands of people around the world, sharing information and connecting leaders with actionable agendas.   ALF believes that bringing leaders together to share information, passions, diverse perspectives, potential solutions, and actions is the first step in making progress on the significant global issues of the time.

This grant will help American Farmland Trust to expand the Farmland Pollinator Protection Project (FPPP) statewide, develop a statewide registry for the sale and purchase of Pollinator Habitat Credits (PHC), work with farmers to plan and restore 150 acres of pollinator habitat on protected farmland, and conduct outreach to corporations and other PHC buyers to secure investments.

This grant will enable FLOW to develop a communications and outreach plan that will engage young people in understanding the threats and taking meaningful action to protect the Great Lakes.