~ July 3, 2024

In recent years there has been an increase in federal funding for community tree planting efforts – over $1.5 billion is being invested into urban and community forestry efforts through the Inflation Reduction Act. There is growing awareness and understanding about urban and community forestry and the social, economic, environmental benefits of trees. Green infrastructure, community health, climate change, and environmental justice are at the forefront of a lot of people’s minds. It’s an exciting time to be doing the work of growing and planting trees – we truly believe that, like our friends at J. Frank Schmidt love to say: “Trees are the answer!” We hope to be a resource for communities who are thinking about applying for urban and community forestry grants, and we’ve compiled some great info that might be helpful in this process! 

The Chicago Region Trees Initiative through the Morton Arboretum is tasked with awarding grants and dispersing funds, and they have a wealth of information located on the CRTI Grant Hub Homepage. There are multiple types of grants with different goals and qualifications. There is the Disadvantaged Communities Grant which aims to, “directly benefit disadvantaged populations of the community as defined by the Climate and Economic Justice Screening tool, HUD Opportunity Zones, and EPA EJ Screen. To view all eligible areas, please see this map. Program areas funded through this proposal must increase tree canopy, improve forest health, or enhance community forestry programs in disadvantaged areas.” 

The Disadvantaged Communities Grant application is due on Friday, September 13, 2024 at 5:00 p.m. however it is requested that potential applicants submit a “Notice of Intent” by Friday, August 16, 2024 through this form: Notice of Intent Form 

Another is the Urban and Community Forestry Grant which focuses on improving forest health resulting from emerald ash borer damage or for emerald ash borer prevention. This grant is currently closed for this cycle, but will open up again in the future. We will keep an eye out for this next grant cycle! 

At Spring Grove Nursery we have helped a few different cities and park districts receive the Urban and Community Forestry grant funding, and we take pride in the work we did together to achieve this goal! Here is some more information about how we helped Curate the Canopy of Roselle Park District through securing funding by putting together a Custom Canopy Curation for their proposal. You can read more about the Roselle Park District Urban and Community Forestry Grant here!

I found some good advice on the CRTI grant hub page that was take inventory of your community and ask yourself these questions:

1. What does your community need? 
2. Is this grant opportunity in alignment with your existing mission?
3. Do you have the capacity and resources to follow through on your commitments?
4. Will the deliverables of the grant serve your needs as an organization or community?
5. Who else needs to be involved for a stronger and more meaningful project?

By considering these questions, it will help in deciding if applying for one of these grants is right for you! We are happy to help answer questions, brainstorm grant proposal ideas, or work on a Custom Canopy Curation for you. If you’re looking for more grants to sift through, don’t worry! Here are some other grant opportunities that might be of interest! Through these amazing funding opportunities we can work together to get more trees out into more communities for a greener, healthier, and happier world!

~ Maggie Thomas Harper