Partner Grants

2020 Healthy Communities Grant Program

The Healthy Communities Grant Program is EPA New England’s main competitive grant program to work directly with communities to support EPA’s “Back-to- Basics” agenda to reduce environmental risks, protect and improve human health and improve the quality of life. The Healthy Communities Grant Program will achieve this through identifying and funding projects that:
• Target resources to benefit communities at risk [areas needing to create community resilience, environmental justice areas of potential concern, sensitive populations (e.g. children, elderly, tribes, urban and rural residents, and others at increased risk)].

• Assess, understand, and reduce environmental and human health risks.
• Increase collaboration through partnerships and community-based projects.
• Build institutional and community capacity to understand and solve environmental and human health problems.
• Advance emergency preparedness and ecosystem resilience.
• Achieve measurable environmental and human health benefits.

To qualify as eligible projects under the Healthy Communities Grant Program, proposed projects must: (1) be located in and/or directly benefit one or more of the Target Investment Areas; and (2) identify how the proposed project will achieve measurable environmental and/or public health results in one or more of the Target Program Areas. Detailed descriptions of the target areas can be found in the application guidance below.

https://www3.epa.gov/region1/eco/uep/grants_2020hc.html
Application Guidance: 2020 Healthy Communities Grant Program (PDF) (36 pp, 312 K, about PDF)
Proposals due on June 5, 2020

Children’s Healthy Learning Environments Grant

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is seeking grant applications through the Children’s Healthy Learning Environments Grant Initiative from states, federally recognized tribes, universities, local governments, non-profits, and other groups to support children’s environmental health in school and childcare settings. These grants advance children’s environmental health by providing education, training, tools and capacity building.

EPA anticipates awarding two grants of approximately $145,000 each for up to a two-year funding period. Grant applications should reflect multi-media and holistic approaches for reducing environmental exposures in schools and childcare settings through capacity building, trainings, and technical assistance. Proposals should also demonstrate a broad reach and collaborative problem-solving with appropriate partners.

This grant is just one part of EPA’s focus on health and safety in schools and protecting children’s health. In March 2020, EPA and the Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding aimed at increasing children’s environmental health knowledge among high school students. The partnership will culminate in a leadership challenge available to more than 200,000 high school members on simple steps students can take to improve their school environmental conditions.

In addition, EPA is working to customize comprehensive environmental health in schools materials for middle-school teachers, students, and parents. Through EPA’s contract with Scholastic, EPA will reach more than 1.5 million middle school students and 50,000 teachers with a wide range of on-line tools.

Applications are due by June 1, 2020. Additional information is available on www.grants.gov, under Funding Opportunity Announcement EPA-OA-OCHP-20-01.

For more information, visit the Office of Children’s Health Protection website: https://www.epa.gov/children/childrens-healthy-learning-environments-grant-initiative-rfa-june-2020.