Building Capacity in Low Income Communities

Watch our website or sign-up for eStream for additional information and a Request for Assistance (RFA)
to be released in January 2012.

Rivers and watersheds in and around low-income communities are impacted by the highest levels of pollution found anywhere in the U.S. They are compromised landscapes, often with limited access points behind auto repair shops and factories. Often there is little in the way of natural systems to protect and much to restore, which is a resource-intensive endeavor.

Political and socioeconomic challenges found in disadvantaged communities are also at play. Polluters benefit from the communities' lack of scientific knowledge and political clout. Agencies are faced with severe budget cuts. NGOs lack the internal systems, financial resources and organizing skills necessary to be effective.

River Network will work with state and regional partners and the Corporation for National and Community Service to select 15-20 local watershed organizations working in low-income communities. Over the next two years, those groups will receive long-term capacity-building assistance so they can better define, measure and track their on-the-ground successes and increase their organizational sustainability.

Through this initiative, we will work in select geographic areas facing high poverty rates, legacies of toxic pollution and the long-term impacts of environmental disasters. These include the Gulf States of Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama, the Great Lakes states of Ohio and Michigan, and the Anacostia watershed in Washington DC.

Organizations will be selected competitively through a Request for Assistance (RFA) process that will be published in January 2012 - watch our website or sign-up for eStream for details.