2023 School & Community Habitat Grant Awardees
The WCCD is pleased to announce the awards for the 3rd WCCD School & Community Habitat Grant! We received ten completed applications and were able to award 4 applicants with plant materials and consultation support. Our native landscaping partner on the grant is Feral Flora, and they will be providing expert design, plant selection, and maintenance planning for many of the projects. The projects will be installed in either spring or fall 2024.
The 2023 Awardees and their projects include:
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Allen Elementary - "Allen Community Native Habitats" Check back for Project Reports! |
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Georgetown Commons South Condominium Association - "GCS Winthrop Rain Garden" Not only are the rain gardens a beautiful addition to the landscape, they serve as a useful water collection system to help in areas of poor drainage and provide additional feeding areas to our pollinators. Those were all high priorities for us and the rain garden was a natural extension of our landscaping beautification. It is our hope that by adding the first rain garden, it will create enough interest that we can install additional rain gardens in the future and provide casual, peaceful meeting places throughout our community for our residents to enjoy for years to come. |
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Leslie Science & Nature Center - "LSNC Native Pollinator and Education Garden" Check back for Project Reports! |
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Tappan Middle School - "Tappan's 3 R's Garden Project: Rainwater Runoff Reducers!"
Tappan's project aims to reduce run-off and conserve rainwater, as well as welcoming pollinators to school grounds. Teachers, students, and families are working throughout the summer to water the gardens as needed between rains; in the fall, a more formal schedule will be determined for weeding and general maintenance. This will be handled among 3-4 different teachers and their classes, so if one teacher leaves the school for any reason, there are others to keep up the gardens. There is also a connection being fostered with the school garden coordinator who runs the flower/vegetable gardens onsite to share tools (gloves, wheelbarrows, shovels, watering cans, etc.). Post-Installation Report Power Point Presentation |
The total awards for all projects include over $7,200 in plant materials, installation, and consultation support, funded by individual donations and the WCCD millage. 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.
The WCCD School & Community Habitat Grant will open for the next round of applicants in January. Find details on the School & Community Habitat Grant page.
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.
The WCCD School & Community Habitat Grant will open for the next round of applicants in January. Find details on the School & Community Habitat Grant page.
Grant Partners:
Feral Flora creates living landscapes with a sense of place using native and nearly native plants in a naturalistic style and is one of the consultants working with grant 2022 awardees. Learn more about the company at feral-flora.com. A big thank you to Matt and Jared!
Assistant Professor Lisa DuRussel and her graduate students at UM SEAS' Master of Landscape Architecture program have volunteered their design services and labor to help create functional and inspirational spaces! Lisa's practice, Site Science, focuses on research-based design and implementation strategies that integrate deep ecological design principles and amplifies collaborative action with deep community engagement. Many thanks to Lisa and her students!
