The Sustaining Urbana Neighborhoods (SUN) grant program is designed to promote community-based activities that align with the City of Urbana's goals for climate resiliency and sustainability. This initiative offers funding to support programs, services, or small-scale improvement projects that contribute to a healthier, more sustainable community life. The program's core mission is deeply integrated with the city's broader environmental and community development objectives, aiming to foster local engagement and innovation in addressing climate-related challenges.
The SUN program primarily targets public or private nonprofit entities, as well as individuals or neighborhood groups that have a nonprofit sponsor. The impact goals are centered around enhancing climate resiliency within Urbana, promoting sustainable living, and encouraging creative, collaborative solutions. A key focus is on involving diverse, multi-generational Urbana residents in the process of creating and implementing climate-related actions and strategies, ensuring that the benefits and responsibilities are shared across the community.
The program prioritizes projects that promote healthy, sustainable community living, foster creativity and collaboration to enhance climate resiliency, and include diverse, multi-generational Urbana residents in climate action development. The expected outcomes include a more engaged citizenry in sustainability efforts, tangible improvements in local climate resiliency, and the development of innovative community-led solutions. Measurable results could include the number of projects funded, the number of residents participating, the types of sustainable practices implemented, and the perceived increase in community climate resilience.
While the "Foundation's strategic priorities and theory of change" are not explicitly detailed as coming from a separate foundation, the City of Urbana's role as the donor implies that these grants are an extension of its own strategic priorities in urban sustainability and climate action. The theory of change appears to be that by providing targeted funding to community-based initiatives, the city can empower residents to take direct action, fostering a bottom-up approach to climate resiliency and sustainable development. The total grant program funding of $100,000, with a targeted amount of $10,000 per project, indicates a strategy of supporting multiple localized efforts to achieve a broader city-wide impact.
