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Please name the action
<br />items from the Orange
<br />County Climate Action Plan
<br />that best align with your
<br />proposed project. (200 word
<br />limit)
<br />Two of Orange County's top priorities are:
<br />1) “Providing for the safety and welfare of all Orange County residents,” and
<br />2) “Long-range planning for county needs (capital investment plan).”
<br />Our program serves both.
<br />In particular, USS's program addresses the County’s goals to:
<br />1) “Implement planning and economic development policies which create a balanced, dynamic local economy, and which
<br />promote diversity, sustainable growth, and enhanced revenue while embracing community values; "
<br />2) “Create, preserve, and protect a natural environment that includes clean water, clean air, wildlife, important natural lands,
<br />and sustainable energy for present and future generations"; and
<br />3) “Ensure a high quality of life and lifelong learning that champions diversity, education at all levels, libraries, parks,
<br />recreation, and animal welfare.”
<br />C2. Do you have another
<br />project to add?
<br />No
<br />Funding Request Summary Please list all proposed projects (please list project name only) for which you are requesting
<br />Community Climate Action Grant funding for Fiscal Year 2025-26. Make sure to include a brief description of the proposed
<br />use of funds. Applicants will be asked to provide more details on their proposed project budget in the Budget Worksheets
<br />linked template.
<br />C3. Total Funding Request 52000
<br />C4. Describe your proposed
<br />use of funds. (150 word limit)
<br />Building on work from our 2023-2025 OCCCA and EPA grants, USS will use public high-school teachers currently in the
<br />program to train and certify more Orange County teachers and students in the certified green infrastructure curriculum
<br />through afterschool training programs. These programs include the installation of native trees and other plants in riparian
<br />buffers along Bolin Creek, especially in areas damaged by tropical storm Chantal. Of the OCCCA funds USS is requesting,
<br />$38,000 will go toward stipends for teachers and students for their time and effort, while $14,000 will cover USS’s costs for
<br />applying for, implementing, and reporting over $220,000 (committed) in outside grant funding for riparian buffer installations.
<br />These funds also support community meetings and obtaining contractors and landowner agreements needed for
<br />installations; recruiting and scheduling teachers and students; and supervising afterschool instruction and two
<br />workdays/training where teachers and students will install trees and other vegetation in riparian buffers.
<br />C5. If a full award for your
<br />project is not possible,
<br />can/will you accept partial
<br />funding and still be
<br />successful?
<br />Yes
<br />Please explain how your
<br />project can still be successful
<br />if you don't receive the full
<br />requested amount. (200 word
<br />limit)
<br />The amount of funding we receive will determine the number of stipends we can give to students and teachers and,
<br />consequently, how many teachers and students USS can train during this grant cycle. The less money we get, the fewer
<br />teachers and students we will train.
<br />Section D. Scored Criteria Criterion 1 - Social Justice and Racial Equity This criterion has a maximum score of 6 points
<br />(out of a total of 26 points).
<br />D1. Who will directly or
<br />indirectly benefit from your
<br />project? Please be as
<br />specific as possible on the
<br />characteristics of those who
<br />will benefit including, gender,
<br />race, age, income level and
<br />geographic location. (200
<br />word limit)
<br />1) Teachers who train additional Orange County teachers, maintain their skills while facilitating Triangle-wide collaboration
<br />to holistically tackle stormwater issues. USS trainers are in their thirties, earn public-school salaries (~$50,000/year); and
<br />teach at 97%- minority and 100%-economically disadvantaged Southern High School and 79%-minority and 41%-
<br />economically disadvantaged Northern High School.
<br />2) Trained Orange County public-school teachers (earning ~$50,000/year). Because teacher recruitment begins after
<br />funding is secured, we cannot supply specific demographics presently.
<br />3) Trained Orange County students. USS targets non-academic/core teachers and students who do not plan to attend
<br />college, over 60% of whom are Black or Hispanic by national statistics (https://hechingerreport.org/how-career-and-
<br />technical-education-shuts-out-black-and-latino-students-from-high-paying-professions/; see also
<br />https://www.apmreports.org/episode/2014/09/09/the-troubled-history-of-vocational-education), and the majority of whom
<br />come from low-income families (https://www.jstor.org/stable/1085026).
<br />4) Low(er)-income residents in low-lying areas of Bolin-Creek, of which ~19.4% are estimated to be black, ~19.1%
<br />Hispanic, and ~10.3% Asian, based on state-wide statistics (https://ncbudget.org/new-census-poverty-data-1-3-million-
<br />living-in-poverty-in-nc/),.
<br />5) All who live within the Bolin Creek and Jordan Lake watersheds. Orange County’s population is 12% Black; 8% Hispanic;
<br />9% Asian; 69% White; 52% Female; 12% in Poverty
<br />(https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/orangecountynorthcarolina/PST045222). The median age is 35.1 years.
<br />D2. What are the
<br />demographics of the area
<br />where your project takes
<br />place? (150 word limit)
<br />Most of the population along the lower Bolin Creek, where USS will be installing riparian buffers, is low-income:
<br />https://bestneighborhood.org/household-income-chapel-hill-nc/ (see attached map). In fact, this area has one of the highest
<br />densities of low-income households in Orange County.
<br />The area along upper and middle Bolin Creek, also targeted for riparian buffers by USS, is among the most diverse in
<br />Orange County: https://bestneighborhood.org/race-in-carrboro-nc/ (see attached map).
<br />The overall population of Carrboro is 68.9% White, 13.2% Black, 7.5% Hispanic and 6.4% Asian. Chapel Hill’s overall
<br />demographics are 63.8% W hite, 13.1% Asian, and 10.8% Black.
<br />Docusign Envelope ID: FE98AD8C-2A26-4FC1-9B3F-6DEB6E3A41EE
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