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Grant Recipients List for the 2nd Quarter, 2006Andolan, Inc. $13,000 - General SupportJackson Heights, NY Andolan, which means “movement” was founded by and for low-wage South Asian women workers to support each other and to organize against exploitative working conditions. A general support grant was awarded in support of their multi-tiered organizing approach to creating social change: individual support, building community with outreach and workshops, and challenging oppressive institutions and practices. Californians for GE-Free Agriculture $10,000 - General Support Occidental, CA Cal GE-Free is a coalition that unites sustainable agriculture organizations with food safety and public health groups that have worked on genetic engineering issues for years. Dedicated to mobilizing widespread opposition to GE agriculture Cal GE-Free is implementing a coordinated set of campaigns including farmer-to-farmer organizing, local grassroots citizen organizing, and educating policy makers at the local and state level. Calumet Project $15,000 - General Support Hammond, IN The Calumet Project is a grassroots coalition which unites clergy, congregations, community activists, environmentalists, labor unionists and neighborhood residents in striving for economic, social and environmental justice for people in the region. Funding was provided in support of their efforts to ensure that a planned Confined Disposal Facility which is next to a school and will take the dredged toxic waste from the Indiana Harbor has the most state of the art safeguards in place from the outset. With these funds they are planning to start a youth Bucket Brigade in order to establish baseline air quality near the facility before the dredging starts as well as monitoring once activity commences. Center for Democracy and the Constitution $13,000 - General Support Lexington, MA CDC helps communities assert their right to self-government in the face of institutionalized corporate assaults. The CDC works with residents of local communities and provides training in community organizing, low-cost legal assistance, strategy and help drafting protective town bylaws, public outreach including speakers and workshops, and the cornerstone of their work, hosting Democracy Schools. Democracy Schools were developed by Richard Grossman and Thomas Linzey of the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF) in Pennsylvania, and cover the history of corporate power, the evolution of the regulatory system, the major people’s movements in the U.S., the political strategies of the Pennsylvania model, and how to apply this information to current local struggles. Center for Health, Environment and Justice $5,000 - General Support Falls Church, VA Childproofing our Communities, a project of CHEJ, is a coalition of hundreds of local, state and national organizations working together to eliminate environmental health threats to our children. CPOC does this by creating tools and resources to help community-based groups identify environmental health hazards at their schools and advocate preventive actions and policies. Funding was provided in support of the Green Flag Schools Program, which involves students in identifying environmental health threats in their schools, designing solutions and passing policies. Citizens Awareness Network $8,500 - General Support Shelburne Falls, MA CAN is a regional organizations, committed to shutting nuclear energy facilities, stopping environmental racism and establishing a “green” energy future in the Northeast. Funding was provided in support of “Rethinking Our Energy Choices for a Green Future”, a campaign to develop a sustainable energy economy in the Northeast that can be a model for the entire country. Community Organizing and Family Issues (COFI) $13,000 - General Support Chicago, IL Continued support was provided for COFI’s parent organizing project, Parents Organized to Win, Educate and Renew — Policy Action Council (POWER-PAC) for their Elementary Justice Campaign: Redirecting the School–to–Prison Pipeline. The Elementary Justice Campaign is making strides in improving discipline and management policies at elementary schools of color and piloting successful alternatives to punitive discipline in Chicago’s elementary schools. Critical Resistance - Oakland $15,000 - General Support Oakland, CA CR–Oak is a grassroots organization which works to challenge the stranglehold the Prison Industrial Complex has on California. Against the growing, and expensive, net of mass imprisonment and policing built in the name of public safety, CR–Oak advocates for basic necessities such as food, education and shelter as the cornerstones of a truly safe and secure society. Members promote genuine forms of safety and security by addressing root causes of social problems in Oakland: poverty and unemployment, racism, and a local government that is not responsive to Oakland’s poor residents of color. Environmental Justice & Climate Change Initiative $13,000 - General Support Oakland, CA Continued funding was provided for the Climate Justice Institute, a train the trainers program with the overall goal of building a movement for climate justice, a movement which recognizes the fact that climate change disproportionally burdens indiginous peoples, people of color, and low-income communities around the world. Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness $6,500 - General Support Minneapolis, MN Continued funding was provided for the Protect Minnesota’s Wilderness campaign to protect nearly 90,000 acres of roadless areas in Superior National Forest, home of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Global Justice Ecology Project $12,500 - General Support Hinesburg, VT Continued funding was provided in support of the STOP GE Trees Campaign, a coordinated effort of several organizations across the U.S. to mobilize and educate the public about the threat to native forests and biodiversity posed by genetically engineered trees. Health Action New Mexico $10,000 - General Support Albuquerque, NM HANM is a grassroots, organizational voice for the uninsured and health care consumers. It is the lead agency of the Health Care for All Campaign, a statewide, collaborative effort with the goal of achieving universal health care in New Mexico by 2009. Kentucky Environmental Foundation $10,000 - General Support Berea, KY Renewed funding was provided in support of the Chemical Weapons Working Group whose mission is to mobilize the grassroots to force the Pentagon to deploy safe technologies in the destruction and remediation of stockpiled and non-stockpiled chemical weapons. Little Village Environmental Justice Organization (LVEJO) $5,000 - General Support Chicago, IL LVEJO is a multi-issue community organization in the largest Mexican American urban area in the U.S. outside of East Los Angeles. Continued funding was provided in support of their organizing work to reduce toxic emissions in their neighborhoods; to clean up a Superfund site; to increase bus and rail services; to reduce obesity and asthma among Latino school children; to increase parks, recreational facilities, open spaces and gardens; to work with local and national coalitions on state and federal policy to reduce coal plant emissions, for increased rights for immigrants, and racial justice in public transportation. Metro Chicago Senior Foundation $7,500 - General Support Chicago, IL MSIA is the only city-wide, multi-issue organization in Chicago committed to uniting and empowering seniors from diverse racial, ethnic, and socio-economic backgrounds. Funding was provided in support of their Public Transit Campaign, which is organizing to fight plans to cut service and increase fares for paratransit services for disabled riders. Neighborhood Pesticide Action Committee (NPAC) $10,000 - General Support Jamaica Plain, MA NPAC provides a voice for Jamaica Plain residents concerned about the use of toxic pesticides in public parks and other open spaces. They are actively working with the city of Boston to make JP a pilot neighborhood for pesticide-free parklands throughout Boston. Toward this goal they are educating the public, engaging residents in policy decisions about pesticide use, and negotiating with public officials. Parents United for Responsible Education (PURE) $13,000 - General Support Chicago, IL PURE is a parent–run public school advocacy group working to assure high-quality public education by supporting active, informed, meaningful parent participation in Chicago’s public schools. PURE works with parents to run and serve as Local School Council members, and advocates for the empowerment of LSCs in the district. Peace & Justice Center $15,000 - General Support Burlington, VT The PJC is a membership-based organization which works on the interconnected issues of economic and racial justice, peace and human rights through education, training, advocacy, non–violent activism, and community organizing. Funding was provided in support of two projects: 1) the Vermont Livable Wage Campaign which works alongside low-wage workers throughout Vermont who identify livable wages as the central focus of their campaigns, and 2) the Recruiting for Peace Project which empowers high school students to be proactive against military recruitment and the draft. Re-Visioning New Mexico, Inc. $12,000 - General Support Albuquerquee, NM Re-Visioning is a multi-cultural, grassroots organizing center dedicated to the long–term work required to build community–based, relational power to lift the state out of chronic poverty and create a more progressive future. Funding was provided in support of the Healthier Communities Project, which works with the residents of Mesquite, NM and two dozen other colonias along New Mexico’s boarder, who are struggling for justice, helping develop leadership and community organizing strategies. Regional Environmental Council, Inc. (REC) $13,000 - General Support Worcester, MA Continued support was provided for YouthGROW, REC’s summer and after school program which trains low-income teens to be environmental justice leaders through community organizing and work on an urban, organic farm. Rogers Park Young Women’s Action Team (YWAT) $5,000 - General Support Chicago, IL YWAT is a youth-led, adult-supported social change project that empowers young women under 21 to take action on issues that affect their lives (particularly issues of violence against girls and young women). General operating support was provided to develop and expand its programming — including the Girls Leadership Camp for middle school aged girls to learn about leadership, activism and social change from their older peers. Rural Vermont / REAP $15,000 - General Support Montpelier, VT Rural Vermont is a 20-year old statewide, farmer-led organization that is working to promote and achieve their vision for a sustainable, thriving Vermont agricuture, which supports small farms and in turn local communities. They have embarked on a strategic planning process to achieve this positive vision by 2015. Washington Street Corridor Coalition $7,500 - General Support Roxbury, MA The WSCC is a grassroots coalition of residents, neighborhood associations, churches, environmental groups, advocacy organizations, and community development corporations throughout the Corridor focused on public transportation. This area of Boston, comprised of predominantly low-income, people of color communities remains the only Boston neighborhood without direct access to rail transportation. After extensive research on all available alternatives, the WSCC has determined that the Light Rail Vehicle system is the best option for the Corridor and thus organizes toward that goal. Western Regional Advocacy Project $10,000 - General Support San Francisco, CA WRAP is a new organization determined to make ending homelessness a national priority. WRAP involves the collaboration of leaders from key social justice-oriented homeless organizations in seven major West Coast cities. WRAP works to ensure that legislators in Washington, DC receive a consistent, constituent-informed message from the West Coast to shape public policies that address the systemic causes of poverty, ensure adherence to human rights, and are grounded in the experiences of those who live and work with homelessness every day. Women’s & Girls’ Collective Action Network (CAN) $15,000 - General Support Chicago, IL Women’s & Girls’ CAN helps women and girls to develop leadership skills to take action and promote social justice on issues that matter most to them. Funding was provided in support of Females United For Action (FUFA), CAN’s organizing coalition, which brings together a diverse group of young women, 12 and up, from across Chicago to educate themselves and others on issues that affect girls. They organize, bring attention to the issue and take action to address it. Through ongoing analysis, FUFA determined that the root cause of the issues that most concerned the group—street harassment, teen dating violence, teen pregnancy and STDs, and domestic violence—was the media. FUFA’s work therefore, has evolved to focus specifically on changing media images of women and girls. Center for Environmental Equity (CEE) $2,000 Portland, OR CEE is the only organization in Oregon, and one of the few in the nation, to prioritize clean up and mitigation from abandoned mineral mines and mine degradation. CEE organizes and mobilizes local residents and communities to challenge federal and state agency failures to protect human and economic health due to mining degradation. Continued funding was provided for their Bohemia Project. FaithAction $1,000 Greensboro, NC Funding was provided in support of the Global Girls Leadership Group, a monthly leadership development program for middle-school girls from a variety of refugee and immigrant communities as well as native-born American girls from various religious traditions. The girls will develop skills for problem solving, peer mediation, and other skills for living peacefully in a multicultural society. Gateway Green Alliance $1,000 St. louis, MO The GGA is a 16 year old grassroots environmental justice organization located in one of the most highly lead contaminated areas of St. Louis. The Rap On Lead project and festival will empower youth and adults through artistic expression to advocate for removal of lead from homes. GROW (Grassroots Organizing Workshops) New England $1,000 Monroe, ME GROW is a three-state (VT, NH, ME) annual grassroots organizer training providing confidence, skills and networking/coalition connections to low-income, local organizers working on justice, environmental and peace issues. HealthCare Volunteer $1,000 Los Angeles, CA Launched by a medical and dental student, HealthCare Volunteer is committed to linking health care volunteers with volunteering opportunities to provide basic health care services, and improve access to health care in the poorest areas of the U.S. They will do this by creating the largest and most comprehensive, searchable, internet database system for both health care volunteers and volunteer opportunities. Iowa Farmers Union Education Foundation $900 Ames, IA Funding was provided in support of a statewide campaign to educate gubanotorial and secretary of agriculture candidates and citizens of the risks of genetically engineered pharmaceutical and industrial crops to both farmers, the environment and the economy. Kestrel Educational Adventures $751.97 Gloucester, MA KEA brings environmental programs into the schools through workshops which introduce students to sensitive local ecosystems. Funding was provided for the printing costs of an activity guide for teachers “Activities and Games for Teaching about Nature and Outdoor Skills”. Each activity is designed to illustrate an important principle of conservation or skill helpful for conservation work. Mar-Saline Branch of NAACP $1,000 Marshall, MO Funding was provided in support of the Back to School — Stay in School program, which is in it’s 8th year of preparing, inspiring and instructing youth, from elementary to high school, with the “tools” necessary to graduate high school. The program utilizes talents of community professionals, parents and peers to motivate and support young people to stay in school and do well. Rudyard Community Commercial Club $2,000 Rudyard, MT RCCC is a community organization working to bring the small rural communities of the area together to find creative ways to promote the assets of the towns and build a better economy for the struggling region. Funding was provided to help publish newsletters, brochures and a website to keep the communities informed and draw interest from other rural areas. Sustainable Western Maine (SWM) $900 Bethel, ME SWM has established a speaker series on sustainable, affordable housing and efficiency measures. Funding was provided in order to provide stipends for speakers, and update reference books for sustainable resource areas at local libararies in Oxford County. Umpqua Watershed, Inc. $1,000 Roseburg, OR The Connect People to Places project includes a youth wilderness camp-out, outdoor education projects, and community outreach talks and efforts to promote a conservation agenda in the region. Urban Business Initiative $1,000 Houston, TX The UBI is a volunteer group of professionals which provide intensive support to micro-enterprises in Houston’s inner city. Funding was provided in support of the UBI Roundtable, to help unify/organize micro-entrepreneurs for the sole purpose of devising innovative solutions to common problems and to advocate for the social and economic needs of the communities they impact. |