Community Stormwater Solutions Grants

Soul Trak Outdoors - $35,000: Soul Trak Outdoors is leading a community-centered initiative in the Anacostia River watershed to improve local waterway health and engage historically excluded communities in environmental stewardship. The project will connect youth and families to the Anacostia Rive through activities, such as hiking, kayaking, and fishing, and build empower residents with the knowledge and tools to advocate for cleaner waterways.  

Gentrified Wood - $35,000: Gentrified Wood, in partnership with Voices Unbarred and under the fiscal sponsorship of the WIRE, will launch Reclaimed Resilience—a hands-on environmental education and workforce development initiative at Edgewood Community Farm. This project will repurpose stormwater-damaged wood and salvaged materials into functional public seating, art installations, and educational tools while engaging residents in underserved communities in woodworking training, sustainability and stormwater practices, and environmental stewardship. 

Wheatley Education Campus School Community Organization - $28,601: The Wheatley School Community Organization and Love & Carrots will engage their students, staff, and school community to beautify the outdoor spaces in front of the Wheatley Education Campus. This will include the installation of native plants and a mural focused on local community activism and conservation of our waterways.  

National Wildlife Federation - $35,000: National Wildlife Federation will expand its Sacred Grounds program in the District of Columbia by engaging congregations in education and action to address stormwater runoff and improve water quality and reduce flooding. Congregations will run education campaigns and engage congregants in planting native plants and adopting landscaping through the RiverSmart program. The initiative scales up a successful five-year pilot with 30+ congregations and focuses on both knowledge-building and behavior change. 

Pipkin Creative Communications - $22,600: Pipkin Creative Communications will host a Kingman Island Youth Band Summit, where the power of music will meet the beauty of nature. Set against the backdrop of Washington, D.C.’s hidden gem – Kingman and Heritage Islands – this festival will celebrate the next generation of musicians while inspiring environmental stewardship. Youth bands will take the stage, filling the island with energy and creativity, while hands-on experiences from local environmental groups connect attendees to the rich ecosystems of the Chesapeake Bay and our urban waterways. 

We Act Radio - $19,100 – We Act Radio will lead a multi-part project focused on social justice action. The first project includes creating a public art mural that promotes local green space rooted in the original indigenous culture of the Nacotchtank, or Anacostans. The second project will develop small-scale green infrastructure and gardens behind the radio studio. The final project will engage students from Duke Ellington’s School of the Arts for a public stage reading from the climate fiction novel, “Nineva: a conflict over water”.