United Way of the Wine Country’s Wildfire Recovery and Resilience Neighborhood Grants Program (WRNGP) has awarded ten grants ranging from $4,000 to $25,000. These grants will help residents rebuild and recover from the October 2017 wildfires and build the resiliency necessary to address future disasters in some cases.
United Way of the Wine Country (UWWC) had $100,000 available for grant funding and received 35 applications totaling $1.6 million dollars. A volunteer grants review committee made up of UWWC board members and community partners ranked the applications and made funding recommendations based on criteria such as need, impact and ability to leverage other resources.
Based on committee recommendations, the UWWC Board of Directors approved the allocation of an additional $48,100 for the grant program, raising total allocable grant funds to $148,100.
Some of the needs and projects identified by the residents and approved for funding include: rebuilding community spaces, fences, and walls; “regreening” neighborhoods; and paying for the cost to facilitate community meetings and events (e.g. space rentals, food, communication, etc.).
This year’s recipients of UWWC’s WRNGP grants are: Larkfield Resilience Fund; Mark West Estates Owners Association; Coffey Strong, Inc.; Berry Brook Homeowners Association; Wilshire Heights Mutual Water Company; Glen Ellen Forum; Alexander Valley Citizens League; O’Donnell Lane Community Group; Journey’s End; and Dover Court Chain Gang.
The WRNGP was a competitive grants program of UWWC in partnership with Sonoma Clean Power. Any resident- or community-led group made up of five or more households in Sonoma County was eligible to apply.
-Submitted by Rusty Smith
