Seven New Sustaining Ann Arbor Together Grants Awarded

Special to WLAA
August 3, 2022, 2 years ago

August 1, 2022 – The City of Ann Arbor is announcing that seven Sustaining Ann Arbor Together (SA2T) grants have been awarded during summer 2022 to support community-based organizations’ community-focused sustainability activities. The seven grant recipients are:

*Ann Arbor Community of Traditional Music and Dance, for the Dancing in the Streets event. This event is 100% free and open to the public and will take place between Main and Washington. (This event has been cancelled for 2022 and the SA2T grant, therefore, has not been issued to this organization.)
Ann Arbor YMCA, for their Cultivating Action through Responsible Education (C.A.R.E.) for Climate program, which educates, trains and empowers 13–17-year-olds to become eco-leaders and allies across the world and to engage in actionable solutions that combat the effect of water pollution and the impact of climate change through local initiatives.
Avalon Housing, to install and manage a series of native-plant pollinator habitats at each of their properties. The project will beautify properties for tenants and neighbors while also reducing maintenance and watering, attracting bees, butterflies and birds, and eliminating the need for fertilizers and other chemicals.
Common Cycle, to test a Universal Basic Transportation (UBT) pilot in partnership with the Community Action Network’s Bryant Community Center. The program focuses on providing affordable and reliable transportation to residents in the Bryant neighborhood, including developing the systems, tools, knowledge and workspaces to help people start and keep cycling.
Community Action Network, to support the installation of solar and battery storage at the Bryant Community Center, taking a large step to turning this facility into a neighborhood Resilience Hub. This would be the second resilience hub in the city and would ensure that the Bryant Community Center can continue providing critical services every day, even during a disaster.
Girls Group, for a significant expansion of the Girls Group Youth Leadership Council. This is a safe and brave space where youth leaders from five Ann Arbor high school programs will have the opportunity to develop skills, undertake training and collaborate to increase confidence, abilities and their overall leadership potential.
Live Zero Waste, for the scaling up of the Ann Arbor Reduce, Reuse, and Return (A2R3) container program. This program was created in partnership with local businesses and the Ann Arbor Office of Sustainability and Innovations.
VegMichigan, for a 30-day Plant-based Pledge and associated week-long plant-based eating challenge, which will be, in part, supported by A2ZERO Ambassadors. This challenge will take place Sept. 11–17. Learn more and sign up at www.a2gov.org/plantchallenge.

“The Ann Arbor Y is collaborating with the Albay and San Pablo City YMCAs in the Philippines, as well as the First Coast YMCA in Jacksonville, Florida, to bring our teens and young adults together in an international environmental initiative,” said Ann Arbor YMCA President and CEO Toni Kayumi. “We are using a common curriculum that includes information on climate change, leadership skills and project management to develop youth eco-leaders who have the potential to become change makers and carry out community projects related to water and air pollution, plastics and waste management, organic gardening, environmental awareness, lobbying policy makers, and more. Thanks to our Sustaining Ann Arbor Together grant, the Ann Arbor Y will have additional financial resources to encourage and educate young people to become environmentally responsible citizens and mentor others to do the same.”

“We are excited about the great work our Sustaining Ann Arbor Together grant recipients are doing to help create a more sustainable and just community,” said Ann Arbor Sustainability and Innovations Director Missy Stults. “Achieving our goal of being carbon neutral by 2030 is going to require an all-hands-on-deck approach, and we are always looking for organizations to support through the SA2T program.”

The Sustaining Ann Arbor Together (SA2T) grant program was created to support and promote sustainability activities undertaken by community and neighborhood groups. The grant program has $100,000 available annually, which is distributed in $10,000 or less grants to community groups working to develop, resource, complete or design small-scale sustainability improvements on public lands or in the right-of-way. Submitted projects are evaluated based on merit and alignment with Ann Arbor’s goal areas laid out in the 2013 Sustainability Framework, including: climate and energy, community, land use access, and resource management. The SA2T grant program is an action outlined in the city’s A2ZERO Carbon Neutrality Plan. To learn more about Ann Arbor’s carbon neutrality work, visit www.a2gov.org/sustainability. To learn more about and to apply for a Sustaining Ann Arbor Together grant, visit: www.a2gov.org/sa2t.

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