Americana Foundation

This grant enables The Greening of Detroit to add Lafayette Greens as a teaching site and to expand in-field training and experiences for participants in its workforce training program. The program (Detroit Conservation Corps) trains disadvantaged Detroiters to take on jobs in landscape, arboriculture, and urban forestry. 

The grant enables Edible Flint to attract new participants, integrate concepts of soil health throughout the programming in order to build soil quality and promote sustainable agriculture in Flint’s urban environment, and recruit new producers at every scale (home gardeners to produce marketers). 

This grant supports year-round, nature-based programming developed by the Avery Arts and Nature Learning Center at the Hessel School House in Hessel, Michigan to support “the continued vitality and prosperity of the Les Cheneaux Islands community.”

To extend the community-supported agriculture program at Asbury Farms into the winter so that at-risk residents of Flint have access to local produce during the winter and
incentives, skills, and opportunities related to healthier food.

Keep Growing Detroit’s farm-based apprenticeship will contribute to Detroit’s climate resiliency through strategic investment in resident growers to utilize urban agriculture and other land-based projects as strategies for climate preparedness and adaptation.

Building on the momentum established in 2019, the Great Lakes Now series will continue to expand its network and advance from providing ½ hour monthly segments to weekly segments by July 2020. The Bureau’s 2020 goals also include digitizing content for online platforms and engaging citizens through a live event, along with ongoing broadcast across the Great Lakes Region.

Detroit Future City will deliver planning and technical assistance to the East Ferry Warren Community Association in Detroit, Michigan to assist in the development of a formal community greening vision.

Growing Hope will expand produce and seedling distribution to low-income families and provide educational garden services to adults and youth while sustaining these programs through mission-aligned earned revenue.

To reinvigorate public interest in key environmental, land use, and “Pure Michigan” economic issues through a full-time environmental reporting initiative at Bridge Magazine.

To complete the funding of a $500,000 endowed scholarship fund that provides scholarships to deserving undergraduate students in EARTH University’s entrepreneurial leadership program.

To support legal opposition to the continued operation of Enbridge Line 5 in the Straits of Mackinac.

To create a permanent Student Solidarity Fund managed by Earth University’s Student Affairs Department that will provide zero interest loans for students to help with vision, dental, or other emergency costs.

To enable SDCA to engage legal and technical resources to oppose the construction of a marina in a local river because of its potential negative consequences to sand dunes, interdunal wetlands, and a buried 19th century lumber town.

To enable DWEJ to work with the Detroit Black Community Food Security Network to create a formal youth volunteer program for D-Town Farm.

To enable a collaborative, community-centered strategic planning process for the Ann Arbor Greenbelt Program that engages the public, partners, and stakeholders in a conversation about our collective vision and goals for the next 15 years.

To support the Volunteer Program at Forgotten Harvest’s Fenton Farm,  which attracts volunteers from corporations, community groups, churches, and schools to help grow vegetables that supplement food distributed via Forgotten Harvest’s emergency food distribution service.

To support the costs of operating Lafayette Greens, a small urban park in downtown Detroit. The grant will contribute to the cost of farming and programming staff, Green Corps youth employees, purchasing plants and nursery stock, and obtaining garden tools and supplies.

To support DPTV’s coverage of issues related to the Great Lakes via the Great Lakes Bureau so that citizens of the region have increased pride of place and become better stewards of the region’s freshwater resources.  

To increase an endowed scholarship fund that provides scholarships to deserving undergraduate students in EARTH University’s entrepreneurial leadership program.

To support staff involvement and organizational operations to fully engage with the Great Lakes One Water Partnership to advance the long-term recovery and resilience of the western counties of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula after the heavy rains of June 2018.

To support FLOW’s legal and technical experts in the development of a modern framework to create water resilient coastal communities in Michigan and the Great Lakes region.

To promote clean water and healthy habitats in Huron River watershed communities by creating and supporting local leaders who can directly influence land use planning in their local governments.

To work with school districts to develop a management plan for school forest lands and integrate the plan within their curriculum to help educate students and the public about land conservation tools and options.

To support the publication of Michigan Environment Watch, a twice monthly on-line publication that contains high quality in-depth reports on a wide range of environmental and natural resource issues affecting Michigan.