On a typical hot day, the temperature is 10 degrees hotter than the rest of NYC due to lack of greenery, highly industrialized neighborhoods, and way too much concrete. This neighborhood is East Flatbush and has historically been highly industrial, with residents having to coexist with the toxic air and land on a daily basis. The Inflation Reduction Act, passed by the Biden Administration, provides grants for environmental justice for such neighborhoods like East Flatbush. In May 2024, we were asked to participate in a Track I EPA grant for a community nonprofit in East Flatbush, Brooklyn. The nonprofit organization had strong relationships with academic institutions that allowed it to apply for the grant.  The end result was a grant document applying for $19 million over three years for a climate resilience hub, community center, environmental education training, cooling center, and a citizen scientist program where local residents would be empowered and trained to test their environment for toxic chemicals and pollution.

Our Services

Jay’s role in the grant process was to merge budgets from multiple partner organizations into a consolidated budget categorized by line item and program type. Maximum overhead charges of 20% was allowed by the EPA to be included in these budgets as a standard requirement. The budget spreadsheet was efficiently designed in a user-friendly format, with detailed descriptions for each line item.

Alongside the budget, we were also vital to the write-up of a required compliance plan, based on specific rules that the organization had to agree upon. The grant document could be no more than 20 pages maximum (excluding appendices), with fixed margins and a set font size. All partners contributed to the common document, but editing was necessary to have one writing style and voice, and to fit within 20 pages.  In the end, the page count was brought down to 19 and a half pages.

Track I of the EPA grant was submitted on August 8, 2024 and we have received preliminary approval from the EPA. The organization is also participating on a Track II EPA grant application, which has a maximum of $3 million in funding per organization.