2021 School & Community Habitat Grant Awardees
The Washtenaw County Conservation District is please to announce the awards for the inaugural WCCD School & Community Habitat Grant! We received seven completed applications and were able to award all applicants with plant materials and/or consultation support. Our native landscaping partner on the grant is PlantWise LLC, and they will be providing expert design, plant selection, and maintenance planning for many of the projects. The awardees will receive plants and consultations either this fall or next spring along with the timing of the annual WCCD plant sales.
The Awardees and their projects include:
The total awards for all projects include plant materials over $2000 at wholesale cost, and $2500 in consultation support, funded by individual donations and the WCCD contributions. Individual donations go a long way for these community organizations to restore and create native plant habitats and educational opportunities, please considering donating to sustain this grant into the future:
https://store.washtenawcd.org/products/donate
Many of these great organizations are looking for more volunteer support, either for labor, plant expertise or to share their vision. If you're interested to get involved with a project, please reach out to their organization or contact our Resource Coordinator to get in touch: Doug Reith (734) 302 8713, doug@washtenawcd.org.
The WCCD School & Community Habitat Grant will open for the next round of applicants in January of 2022. Details from 2021 and updates for 2022 will continue to be available on the School & Community Habitat Grant page.
The Awardees and their projects include:
- Ann Arbor Open School - "Michigan Native Trees for Education & Play"
The school is planning on planting a variety of Michigan native trees on open grassy areas will have ecological, educational, and recreational benefits. - The Community Food Forest at Leslie Park
"A project created by the community for the community to meet two primary objectives: ecological regeneration, and strengthening local community resilience, particularly with regard to food independence." They will be planting more herbaceous plants to expand upon their existing gardens. - Southeast Michigan Land Conservancy - LeFurge Woods
Installing a rain garden to address storm water issues and will also reduce overall project costs and provide an exciting visual experience for visitors, as well as an educational opportunity via signage, guided hikes, and volunteer workdays. - Ypsilanti International Elementary School - "YIES Learning Garden"
Meeting their motto of "stronger together" they plan to install a "pollinator cafe" that would create a space for sustaining our community with new opportunities for students to engage more deeply with their physical and social environment. - Pittsfield Village - "Sustainable Meadows Project"
They will be continuing a long effort of replacing a public park space of lawn with a native plant meadow, adding to and improving their previous seedings and plantings. - Bird Center of Michigan - "Habitat Sanctuary"
They will be installing a bird friendly garden design. Plants will be chosen to benefit birds released on the Bird Center property as well as surrounding bird populations. - University Palisades Homeowners Association - "Native Plant/Wildlife Habitats"
They are taking the the first step in a multi-phase plan to beautify their subdivision while committing to sustainability and reduction of our carbon footprint, with plantings for aesthetics as well as pollinators and wildlife.
The total awards for all projects include plant materials over $2000 at wholesale cost, and $2500 in consultation support, funded by individual donations and the WCCD contributions. Individual donations go a long way for these community organizations to restore and create native plant habitats and educational opportunities, please considering donating to sustain this grant into the future:
https://store.washtenawcd.org/products/donate
Many of these great organizations are looking for more volunteer support, either for labor, plant expertise or to share their vision. If you're interested to get involved with a project, please reach out to their organization or contact our Resource Coordinator to get in touch: Doug Reith (734) 302 8713, doug@washtenawcd.org.
The WCCD School & Community Habitat Grant will open for the next round of applicants in January of 2022. Details from 2021 and updates for 2022 will continue to be available on the School & Community Habitat Grant page.
