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The DOEE Office of Urban Agriculture awarded the Chesapeake Bay Trust to implement the District of Columbia Urban Agriculture Award Program. This grant provides two funding tracks to increase urban agriculture in the District:
Track 1: Infrastructure and Operations Support for Urban Farms (up to $15,000 per award)
This track seeks to support the success of urban farms through grant awards to increase infrastructure and operations support. Project proposals should address at least two of the following goals:
- Increase food crop production, processing and/or distribution;
- Improve distribution & access to fresh foods;
- Construct facilities that enable agricultural education experiences;
- Accelerate the business and production capacity for socially disadvantaged farmers; and
- Advance sustainable agricultural efforts in the District.
Track 2: Foodscapes DC (up to $22,000 per award)
OUA is developing a new program called Foodscapes DC to help address the socio-economic, racial, and geographic disparity in access to fresh, affordable food in the District. Awarded applicants in this track will engage District residents by providing materials and technical support to cultivate crops at their homes. Project proposals should address the following goals:
- Develop best practices to perform site assessments, create an edible garden plan, and offer ongoing technical support and education to site owners.
- Install and maintain edible gardens in the form of raised beds, edible fruit bushes/trees, and/or perennial herb gardens, as well as associated infrastructure (if applicable), in 3-5 yards of District homeowners, depending on budget and site needs.
- Develop techniques that are scalable and transferable.
- Identify best practices for engaging with households in the District experiencing food insecurity, with the goal of installing garden infrastructure to support at least 2 growing seasons.
- Develop a plan for tracking and reporting project successes and challenges to make recommendations on how to expand and improve the Foodscape program beyond the scope of this grant. Program recommendations will be a priority component of the required final report for grant awardees.
Grant Application and Deadline:
- Grant is now close, and awardees will be announced in mid-February
Program Contacts:
For technical assistance contact Carlton Burns at
[email protected] | (410) 974-2941 x 125
For general questions contact Brenda Perez at
[email protected] | (202) 527-1786
2022 Awardees:
Congratulations to all the 2022 District Urban Agriculture Small Award Recipients! This year the DOEE Office of Urban Agriculture and the Chesapeake Bay Trust awarded $77,741.00, through eight grants. Read about the awardees below:
Children of Mine Youth Center (COMYC) – $9,705
COMYC is a non-profit organization with a 10,000 SF urban farm that provides youth development programming to the children, families, and residents of the Ward 8 community of Anacostia. Through this grant, COMYC installed four hoop houses on raised garden beds to protect the produce from rodents and provide frost protection to extend crop production into the winter season. Produce from this project supported food for the organization's food pantry and youth enrichment program.
The Nicholson Project – $10,000
The garden at The Nicholson Project, located in Ward 7, offers programming at the intersection of arts, agriculture, and the natural world. Through this grant, The Nicholson Project expanded the support for personnel to oversee the garden, purchased additional food distribution equipment, and provided free garden-based workshops on the topics of healthy living, arts, and culture. This project helped them increase food crop production and provide an employment opportunity to a Black farmer.
My Seniors Keeper (MSK) – $9,882
The founding members of My Seniors Keeper (MSK) Foundation converted a three-quarter acre parcel of unused public land in Ward 7 into a community-led and sustainably managed growing space known as “Hustlaz 2 Harvesters Applied Research Garden” (The Garden). Through this grant, MSK supported staff to plan for the installation of solar equipment to power a pavilion at The Garden, host workshops for participants, and lead volunteer opportunities. This project increased the capacity of The Garden to improve distribution and access to fresh foods to food insecure communities in Ward 7.
Sovereign Earthworks – $10,000
Sovereign Earthworks is a group of Trans, Queer, Two-Spirit, Gender-Expansive, Black & Indigenous Folx that runs a decentralized farming operation that cultivates anti-oppressive and empowering food systems in the District. This grant supported a new hire for the Sovereign Earthworks team who will support food production and distribution, community education, and the development of a stakeholder group. This project expanded their ability to continue the mission of their work and to expand their current CSA called the “Food Sharing Program”, which currently feeds 30+ families.
City Blossoms – $10,000
City Blossoms is a nonprofit organization that cultivates the well-being of our communities through creative programming in kid-driven gardens. This grant supported the development of The Youth Garden at the Farm at Fort Stanton in Ward 8, City Blossoms’ fifth garden in their Community Green Space program. When completed, The Youth Garden will be a living classroom where children from the neighborhood and surrounding schools can connect with the natural world, eat freshly harvested produce, learn, and build community.
Bridges Public Charter School (Bridges PCS) – $9,350
Bridges PCS is a public charter school in Washington, DC, serving students in preschool through 5th grade. This grant supported the development of Bridges PCS’ Healthy Harvest Project, which includes three main components: a produce wash station, a mobile mini-kitchen, and a greenhouse expansion. The completion of this project will allow Bridges PCS to safely and efficiently wash fresh produce from their expanded school gardens for taste tests, cooking classes, and distribution to the community in Ward 5.
Housing Help Plus (HHP) – $10,000
Housing Help Plus is a housing non-profit that incorporates city farming into existing affordable housing developments. Through this grant, HHP created two grape vineyards, located in Congress Heights and Fort Dupont Park neighborhoods, that operate using biodynamic growing practices. These vineyards served as a teaching platform to exhibit organic and biodynamic farming practices to HHP’s target audience, at-risk youth and elderly residents, and community members in Ward 7 and 8.
Common Good City Farm – $8,488
Common Good City Farm is a place where community members can source fresh food, see sustainable urban agriculture in action, and gain exposure to concepts and skills to lead healthy lives. This grant supported the creation of their Pay-What-You-Can Point-of-Sale digital application, aimed to ensure sustainability of an equitable pricing model for their Farm Stand. When completed, this project will provide essential infrastructure to our pay-what-you-can farm stand, which serves communities in Wards 1 and 5.
Past Awardees: