Albemarle awards $100K in five more Community Climate Action grants

One way Albemarle County is seeking to implement elements of its Climate Action Plan is to pay area nonprofits to put some of the greenhouse gas emission reduction steps into motion. In the second round, five projects will split $100,000. 

“It’s important to leverage community resources and knowledge along with local government funds to help implement the Climate Action Plan,” said Albemarle County Climate Protection Program Manager Gabe Dayley in a press release. 

In all ten organizations filled out applications for the funds and two of them were successful for a consecutive year. 

• The Community Climate Collaborative will get $20,000 to hold workshops with “leadership or places of community gathering” to promote energy efficiency, conversion to electric vehicles and building systems from fossil fuel-powered ones, and waste management. The title of this project is “Accelerating GHG Reduction with Community Service Organizations.” 
• The Local Energy Alliance Program will receive $18,600 to provide roof repairs and other upgrades to low-income households that are participating or eligible to participate in a Dominion Energy solar program solar. The title of this project is “Solar Readiness for Low-Income Households.”
• Wildrock has been awarded $11,380 to install a composting system to reduce greenhouse gas emissions related to food waste, and will develop an accompanying education program. This title is “Community Composting System.”
• Charlottesville Community Bikes will receive an additional $25,000 for their continuing work to fix up old bicycles and distribute them to underserved communities. This title is “Bicycle Recycling, Refurbishment, and Redistribution” and this group received the same amount of funding in the first round. 
• The International Rescue Committee’s New Roots Farm will receive $25,000 to build on their work to electrify operations at their farm on Moore Creek just to the south of Charlottesville’s Azalea Park. This project has the title “Supporting Expansion and Electrification at New Roots Farm.” The project was awarded $20,020 in the last round.

The three other projects from the first round are:

• The Autism Sanctuary received $25,0000 for Community-Based Vermicomposting
• FLIPP Inc. received $18,600 for a workforce development program with the title “Solar Technician Training and Accreditation with FLIPP Accelerated Clean Energy Project (FACE)”
• The Peabody School received $11,380 for a project called Piedmont Prairie Restoration, Conservation, and Education at Darden Towe Park

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