Restoration Authority Awards its First Community Grant 

The San Francisco Bay Restoration Authority has awarded its first Community Grant to support community-based organizations' (CBOs') engagement with restoration work.   

The grant of $100,000 is going to Shore Up Marin City's Marin City Urban Wetland Community Visioning Project to conduct a community visioning and planning process to restore a degraded stormwater detention basin into wetland and open water habitat in Marin County. 

"This grant is the first of what will be an ongoing series of grants to fund CBOs, particularly those in economically disadvantaged areas, to engage with shoreline restoration issues." said Linda Tong, Project Manager for the Restoration Authority, "The Bay's shoreline is so important to the mental and physical health of our communities. The intention of these Community Grants is to fund capacity building and empowerment among communities to develop and implement shoreline restoration projects that serve the people around them." 

The Restoration Authority's Community Grants Program is an alternative to the Measure AA Grant Program. It was created to improve equity in the Authority's grantmaking, with a shorter application form and increased staff support throughout the application and implementation processes. 

The Marin City Urban Wetland Community Visioning Project consists of conducting a community visioning and planning process for the restoration of a degraded stormwater detention basin in northern Marin City, an economically disadvantaged community within Marin County into wetland and open water habitat. The planning phases of this urban wetland restoration project are already underway, with Audubon California as the lead, and local grassroots coalition Shore Up Marin City as a crucial partner and driver of the project.  

Shore Up Marin City has received funding from Audubon California to initiate community engagement but needs additional funds to lead a robust community engagement campaign that will inspire residents to be active participants in the ongoing visioning and planning for this urban wetland.  

The project will weave together community engagement, local workforce and career development, and the opportunity for Shore Up Marin City to build organizational capacity through leading this project with support from Audubon California. The project aims to have community involvement closely align with, and directly inform, technical planning and design of the urban wetland. 

More about the Restoration Authority's Community Grants Program can be found here.