Access to Community Mediation in Rural North America

Rural communities across North America have been historically underserved with regard to the availability of community mediation training and services. The 2023 Community Mediation Mini-Grant Program Funding Track seeks to address this by focusing on the development of community mediation programming in rural areas.

“Rural” is understood to include sparsely populated areas (1,000 or less residents per square mile) and is considered economically dependent on agriculture, forestry, tourism or recreation. Rural areas may have urban clusters of between 2,500 and 49, 000 residents; however the hamlet(s), town(s) or village(s) to be served by the proposal must be part of a larger rural area designated for engagement through the project. This geographic area must also be outside of designated metropolitan areas.

The proposed project may involve a new service area for your organization or one you have been cultivating through your use of JAMS Foundation-funded Zoom accounts. The vision is to build on this new or renewed contact and use of your services by rural communities to assist them in either strengthening a rather limited rural-based Community Mediation Center (CMC) or to assist a CMC in developing its competency and connection with the rural communities they now are serving.

The proposed project should expand how your organization currently serves your communities (through mediation, restorative justice practices, conflict coaching, conflict management training or dialogue processes), by offering a new or enhanced process to help people, institutions and the community as a whole develop trusted relationships and expand the impact of your services beyond individual cases. This is an opportunity to address the impacts of one or more of the following community conditions: demographic changes, workforce development, capital access, infrastructure, e-health, land use, environmental and community preservation.

Systemic changes to be realized through the proposed project should be replicable by other community mediation centers as a path for sustainability and growth for the field of community mediation, as well as to inform the development of evidence-based strategies, training, policy and research at the national level as well.

Mini-Grant Program

The Mini-Grant Program is designed to encourage creativity and variation based on research. Service strategies will be developed through implementation of the “Listening for Action” Leadership Process and strengthened by at least one policy or procedure change developed and locally implemented over a two-year period. 

Mini-grant recipients will work together throughout the grant period anchored in the Learning Community. The Learning Community is a structured and collaborative peer working group facilitated by NAFCM. This structure serves as an incubator for innovation by aiding in the development of “good practices.” All materials developed through these grants will be shared with community mediation centers and mediators across the continent. By distributing these materials, sharing programmatic resources, providing training, and developing national partnerships, NAFCM supports the replication of these service models and ensures the Program’s impact on an international level.

The Learning Community will meet twice a month for the first five months, and monthly thereafter using a specified on-line meeting platform. This Learning Community will follow the “Listening for Action” structured guidance offered by NAFCM that is intended to strengthen the unique work of each project as well as create an executive learning environment that allows the members to grow both individually and professionally.

Priority considerations in the Solicitation of Interest (SI)

In addition to focusing on projects serving rural communities in North America, priority will be given to projects that:

• Build on relationships already established though the work of the applicant (Hallmark 1).
• Provide direct access to the public through self­-referral and striving to reduce barriers to service including physical, linguistic, cultural, programmatic and economic(Hallmark 3).
• Work to engage in public awareness and educational activities about the values of using community mediation (Hallmark 9).

Mini-Grants of $15,000 per year will be awarded to up to five organizations to be used as incentive funds to support the expansion of the Center’s work with or on behalf of rural communities in North America. Funding requests may be for up to two years, but decisions regarding second-year funding will be contingent on evidence of benchmark accomplishments at the end of the first year of funding.

Walmart’s more than 2 million associates are residents, neighbors, friends and family in thousands of communities around the globe. Walmart works to strengthen these communities through both retail business and community giving, and we support and invest in communities through local giving. The following programs have open application processes with specific deadlines for eligibility and consideration.

Local Community Grants

Each year, our U.S. stores and clubs award local cash grants ranging from $250 to $5,000. These local grants are designed to address the unique needs of the communities where we operate. They include a variety of organizations, such as animal shelters, elder services and community clean-up projects.

Areas of Funding

• There are eight (8) areas of funding for which an organization can apply. Please review the areas listed below to ensure your organization’s goals fall within one of these areas.
• Community and Economic Development: Improving local communities for the benefit of low-income individuals and families in the local service area
• Diversity and Inclusion: Fostering the building of relationships and understanding among diverse groups in the local service area
• Education: Providing afterschool enrichment, tutoring or vocational training for low-income individuals and families in the local service area
• Environmental Sustainability: Preventing waste, increasing recycling, or supporting other programs that work to improve the environment in the local service area
• Health and Human Service: Providing medical screening, treatment, social services, or shelters for low-income individuals and families in the local service area
• Hunger Relief and Healthy Eating: Providing Federal or charitable meals/snacks for low-income individuals and families in the local service area
• Public Safety: Supporting public safety programs through training programs or equipment in the local service area
• Quality of Life: Improving access to recreation, arts or cultural experiences for low-income individuals and families in the local service area

Parks for All

Our Parks For All program supports nonprofit organizations focused on building, maintaining, restoring, and providing more equitable access to parks. 

From improving West Coast redwood forests to maintaining East Coast trails, connecting women and Indigenous youth in Canada and Alaska to the outdoors, beach and waterway cleanups in Germany and the United Kingdom, our Parks For All nonprofit grantees span the globe and make a tremendous difference.

For the Love of Parks

Parks represent a place we can all go to recreate, relax or be inspired. From urban park picnics with our family to national park adventures in the backcountry, parks of all sizes help make us healthier, happier and more fulfilled. We acknowledge the past and present exclusion from outdoor spaces faced by People of Color and other historically marginalized communities, including womxn, LGBTQIA2S+ and Disabled people. Parks for All is our way of sharing the love we have for green spaces, ensuring these special places get the attention and protection they deserve, and are accessible to all.

About Hydro Flask and Parks For All

Hydro Flask is the leader in high-performance insulated products that help people enjoy the things they love to do in the places they love to be. From the number-one-selling water bottle to soft good innovations like our Unbound Series™ Soft Coolers and Down Shift™ Hydration Packs, Hydro Flask’s delightfully simple designs and go-anywhere durability always deliver the perfect temperature when you need it.

Founded in 2009 in Bend, Oregon, Hydro Flask inspires active outdoor lives with two simple words: Let’s Go! Its giving platform Parks For All supports the development, maintenance, restoration, and accessibility of public green spaces so people everywhere can live healthier, happier, and more fulfilled lives.

Parks For All Product Donation Criteria

Before you begin your product donation request, make sure your request and organization meet the following criteria:

• Organizations seeking a Parks for All product donation must be dedicated to building, restoring, maintaining, or providing more equitable access to, or education around, parks and recreational public lands and/or beaches and coastal areas.
• Product donation requests are being accepted for the following uses:
  • Reward for participation
  • Stakeholder engagement (i.e. – galas, fundraising events, etc.)
• Applicants must demonstrate a history of efficient use of resources.
• Applicants’ missions should be aligned with Hydro Flask’s priorities of inclusivity, active lifestyles and enhanced health.

Notes and Definitions:

• Parks
  • Naturally beautiful or historically significant public land meant for public enjoyment and recreation. From urban parks to public beaches to iconic national parks, these are places that enable people to have happier, healthier and more fulfilled lives.
• Qualified Applicants:
  • U.S. Non-profit 501(c)(3) organizations that work to build, restore and maintain public lands, parks and recreational waterways.

NOTE: LOI deadline represents the deadline for emailed questions.

• See separate grant page for High Impact Priority Impact Quality of Life grants. High Impact Priority Quality of Life grants are offered once per year, in the 1st grant cycle. 
• See separate grant page for Expanded Impact Tier Quality of Life grants which are currently being offered once per year, in the 1st grant cycle.

Program overview

As a pillar of the Paralysis Resource Center, the Quality of Life Grants Program, pioneered by the late Dana Reeve, impacts and empowers people living with paralysis, their families and caregivers by providing grants to nonprofit organizations whose projects and initiatives foster inclusion, involvement and community engagement, while promoting health and wellness for those affected by paralysis in all 50 states and U.S. territories.

Grants have been awarded in all fifty states, a number of U.S. territories and though we no longer fund projects outside of the United States of America, grants have previously been awarded in 33 countries outside the U.S.

Quality of Life Grant Details

Grants are awarded to organizations that address the needs of people living with paralysis caused by spinal cord and other injuries, diseases or birth conditions, including (but not limited to) stroke, spina bifida, multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

Direct Effect (Tier 1)

Direct Effect (Tier 1) is open-focused and awards grants of up to $25,000 to support a wide range of projects and activities. Grants fund programs and projects that will clearly impact individuals living with paralysis and their families.

Direct Effect Quality of Life grants fund specific budget items up to a total of $25,000 to support the wide range of projects and activities that will clearly impact individuals living with paralysis and their families. Funded projects must be completed within 12 months after the award is received.

Examples of funded projects may include (but are not limited to):

• sports wheelchairs for a wheelchair basketball team;
• adapted glider in a community playground;
• kayak for a rowing program;
• accessible gym equipment;
• hydraulic lift at a pool;
• electronic door openers at a community center;
• workshop education series on sex and sexuality with a spinal cord injury;
• wheelchair accessible picnic table at a county fairground;
• program for preventing abuse in adaptive sports;
• camp programs;
• subsidized lessons for therapeutic riding;
• transportation costs for an inclusive afterschool program; and
• support groups.

See Types of Direct Effect (Tier 1) Projects Funded

Direct Effect grants will have short- to mid-range impact. Long-range impact and sustainability are not expected for projects at this level. Grantees will be required to submit a 6-month interim report and a final report and evaluation survey at the end of the project.

About America Walks

America Walks, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit national organization is leading the way in making America a great place to walk. We provide a voice for walking and walkable communities with federal agencies, provide strategy support, training and technical assistance to statewide, regional, and local organizations, and serve as the convener of the national Every Body Walk! Collaborative. Together, America Walks and the Every Body Walk! Collaborative boast 700 allied organizations who across the nation are working to increase walking and make America a better place to walk.

Community Change Grants

The Community Change Grants program supports the growing network of advocates, organizations, and agencies working to advance walkability. Grants are awarded to innovative, engaging, and inclusive programs and projects that create change and opportunity for walking and movement at the community level.

America Walks and generous Active People, Health Nations partners are excited to announce another round of our popular Community Change Grant program. This program will award 15 grantees $1,500.00 in community grants for projects related to creating healthy, active, and engaged places to live, work and play.

America Walks has seen firsthand that the passion, innovation, and hard work of advocates and local organizations to advance safe, equitable, accessible, and enjoyable places to walk and move are what create the foundation for walkable communities across the US. This grant program will work to provide support to the growing network of advocates, organizations, and agencies using innovative, engaging, and inclusive programs and projects to create change at the community level.

Projects We Fund

We look forward to funding projects that demonstrate increased physical activity and active transportation in a specific community, work to engage people and organizations new to the efforts of walking and walkability, and demonstrate a culture of inclusive health and design. Projects will create healthy, active, and engaged communities that support walking as transportation, health, and recreation. Projects must show a strong and intentional foundation of equity and authentic engagement of the whole community.

Uplifting the community should always be the goal, so we are particularly interested in projects that center the concerns of BIPOC residents, reach across the demographics of communities to build coalitions, and/or create unique civic partnerships with new perspectives. Our desire is for proposed projects to have a particular focus on engaging in key issues of the day with new perspectives and diverse partners/ audiences while highlighting the vital role that walking and transportation partners can play in a new era.

For the second year, General Motors is funding 15 additional $1,500 Community Change Grant projects in designated towns and cities with GM facilities! 

African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund Grants

Grants from the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund advance ongoing preservation activities for historic sites, museums, and landscape projects representing African American cultural heritage. The fund supports work in four primary areas: Capital Projects, Organizational Capacity Building, Project Planning, and Programming and Interpretation. 

Grants made from the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund will range from $50,000 to $150,000. In 2022, the National Trust awarded $3 million to 33 projects. Since establishing the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund’s National Grant Program in 2017, the National Trust has supported more than 200 preservation projects nationally.

Grant Conditions

Grants from the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund may be used to fund up to 100% of the proposed project. While matching funds are not required for this program, projects that are leveraging additional investments are strongly preferred.

The following grant conditions apply:

• If the project involves a property, the grant recipient must either own the property or have a written agreement with the property owner stating that the grantee has permission to undertake the grant-funded project.
• Grants or any matching funds cannot be used directly or indirectly to influence a member of Congress to favor or oppose any legislation or appropriation.
• Any documents or plans for preservation work that result from the project must conform to the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties.
• Any construction projects must conform to the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties.
• At least three (3) competitive bids/quotes must be obtained for any procurement of services that exceed $50,000. This provision applies only to portions of the project supported by National Trust grant funds.
• Grant recipients must include appropriate acknowledgement of the National Trust and its philanthropic partners’ financial support in all printed materials generated for the project.
• Consultants must be approved by the National Trust before grant funds are disbursed. Board members of the application organization cannot serve as consultants unless appropriate conflict of interest procedures are followed and documented.
• Grant recipients are required to sign a contract agreeing to the conditions of the program.
• Project Planning and Programming-related grants must be completed within one year of the initial grant disbursement date. Capital Project-related grants must be completed within 18 months of the initial grant disbursement.
• Recipients of Organizational Capacity grants to hire new staff, or to increase staff from part-time to full time, will have two years to complete their project. All other Organizational Capacity grant-funded projects will follow a one-year completion timeline.
• Upon the project’s completion, a final narrative report and financial accounting of the expenditure of the grants must be submitted. If the project is not completed in accordance with the contract, the grant funds must be returned.
• Applicants must agree not to discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin or sexual orientation. This obligation also extends to disabled veterans, Vietnam-era veterans, and handicapped persons.
• The National Trust's philanthropic partners may require additional grant conditions. They will be outlined in the grant contract.

Eligible Activities and Expenses

Grants from the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund are designed to advance ongoing preservation activities for historic places representing African American cultural heritage, such as sites, museums, theaters, sports venues, churches, schools, universities, and landscapes. Grants awards may be made for activities and projects in the following categories:

Capital Projects

• Restoration, rehabilitation, stabilization, and preservation of historic places and structures, including bricks-and-mortar construction and planning costs
• In the case of Capital Projects, up to 15% of awarded grant funds may be used for construction planning such as architectural and engineering services, code review, drawings, specifications, and geotechnical services.
• Applicants can request up to $150,000 and can direct up to 15% of awarded grant funds for construction planning and documents

Organizational Capacity Building

• Hiring new senior/director-level or leadership staff to increase the organization’s preservation stewardship and management capacity (funds can be used to support salaries and benefits for grant supported staff.) Applicants can request up to $150,000 for a two-year period
• Increasing current part-time staff to full-time in order to advance preservation priorities. Applicants can request up to $100,000 for a two-year period
• Convening board, governance and nonprofit management training and organizational development activities such as strategic planning for the organization. Applicants can request $50,000 and can direct up to 10% for indirect support/overhead costs.

Project Planning

• Obtaining the services of consultants with expertise in the areas such as preservation architecture, business development, engineering and environmental studies, legal issues, fundraising and financial sustainability, organizational development, education, etc. to develop plans for implementation by organization
• Development of viable business plans for preservation organizations, pre-development planning activities, feasibility studies for market-driven revitalization projects, preservation plans, engineering and environmental studies, property condition assessment reports with cost analysis, historic structures reports, etc.
• Applicants can request up to $75,000 and can direct up to 10% for indirect support/overhead costs

Programming and Interpretation

• Sponsoring preservation conferences, trainings, and workshops
• Collaborating with artists, creatives, and scholars to re-imagine interpretation and programming, while advancing new approaches to storytelling and public education
• Designing and implementing innovative preservation education,  documentation, mapping, and interpretative programs
• Designing, producing, and marketing printed materials or other media communications
• Designating sites at the local and/or national levels
• Applicants can request $50,000 and can direct up to 10% for indirect support/overhead costs

Grants awarded for Capital Projects and Programming and Interpretation may include funding for both the planning and implementation of those projects.

Purpose and Scope

• The Conservation and Outdoor Recreation Challenge Cost Share program is intended to support specific National Park Service mission-related projects that align with the goals of project partners.
• Challenge Cost Share projects must support one or more of the following funding themes:
  • Addressing the Climate Crisis
    • Projects that address the climate crisis and build resiliency to a changing climate.
    • Projects could include developing green infrastructure, nature-based solutions, and/or creating sustainable energy sources.
  • Conservation Projects (Lands and Waters)
    • Projects that increase the acres of protected or restored lands and waters.
  • Advancing Equity for Youth from Underserved Communities
    • Projects that increase equitable access to parks for youth and young adults from underserved communities.
  • Outdoor Recreation
    • Projects that increase public access to new and restored outdoor recreation opportunities.
• Projects that benefit NPS administered National Parks, National Trails and Wild and Scenic Rivers.
• National Park Service staff will work with project partners to achieve these mutually beneficial outcomes.
• This partnership challenge seeks to reward proposals that have the best prospects to build enduring benefits and develop new partnerships.

Funding and Match

• If a project is selected, the partner organization will enter into agreement to receive and manage the project funds consistent with the project’s application, purpose and budget.
• The partner organization is required to match the amount of the Challenge Cost Share program funding received with an equal share from the partner(s); any combination of dollars and in-kind services can be counted toward the partner's cost share requirement, as long as their match comes from non-federal sources.
• The maximum Challenge Cost Share program support is $25,000 per project.
• The Challenge Cost Share program is ONPS funds and must be used for the purpose and benefit of the NPS administered unit.
• Challenge Cost Share program funding cannot be used to pay for NPS staff salaries or travel.

With major support from Toyota Motor North America, the National Environmental Education Foundation (NEEF) is excited to announce $200,000 in grant funding to support shovel-ready pollinator habitat enhancement projects on America’s public lands.

Habitat enhancement projects should directly support the creation, restoration, remediation, improvement, and/or protection of habitats for important pollinator species such as butterflies, bees, bats, and more. The project should impact pollinators on at least 150 acres of public land. Additionally, projects should incorporate community outreach and engagement activities designed to educate and empower the public to help enhance pollinator habitats.

Funding Priorities

Habitat Enhancement Projects

Projects must implement on-the-ground activities designed to increase the quality, quantity, and connectivity of pollinator habitats. Applicants must define a step-by-step plan including site preparation, size of the project area, and description of target pollinator. If preparing a proposal that includes collecting seeds or cultivating native seedlings, applicants should describe the intended use of the seed or seedlings. The project should be shovel-ready, meaning ready to implement the proposed project within 3 months of the award date. 

Community Engagement

Projects must provide opportunities for public engagement through education or volunteer focused events. Projects should aim to collaborate with a diverse group of community partners to achieve engagement and educational outcomes. Grantees will be required to report on the number of events implemented and the number of participants engaged during the grant period. 

Project Metrics

To better gauge progress on individual grants and to ensure greater consistency of project data provided by multiple grantees, NEEF has provided a list of recommended project metrics. All applicants must commit to collecting and reporting on key project metrics listed below. 

Acres Enhanced: 

• Number of Acres 
• Number of Acres of Monarch Habitat
• Number of Individual Project Work Sites

Biodiversity Enhanced: 

• Number of Pollinator Species Promoted
• Number of Imperiled Species Protected
• Number of Native Plant Species Installed
• Number of Milkweed Plants Installed

Community Members Engaged: 

• Number of Individuals Engaged in Volunteer Activities 
• Number of Individuals Engaged in Outreach Activities 
• Number of Landowners Engaged
• Number of Toyota Employees Engaged
• Number of Individuals Engaged from Underserved Communities