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Oberlin will distribute $100,000 in youth climate microgrants countywide through Bloomberg award
Summary
Linda Arbogast, Oberlin’s sustainability coordinator, said the city received a $100,000 Bloomberg Philanthropies award to run youth climate-action microgrants across Lorain County and will distribute grants of $1,000–$5,000 to nonprofit or educational applicants for April–October projects.
Linda Arbogast, sustainability coordinator for the City of Oberlin, told a Lorain County audience that Oberlin received $100,000 from Bloomberg Philanthropies to fund youth climate-action microgrants throughout Lorain County.
The Bloomberg award targets youth ages 15 to 24 and supports projects led by nonprofit or educational organizations, with microgrants sized from $1,000 to $5,000. The program allows fiscal agents for youth groups that are not attached to a nonprofit; adults may support projects but grants must be administered through an eligible organization.
Arbogast said the city received permission from Bloomberg to use the award across Lorain County, not only in Oberlin, and that the Community Foundation of Lorain County will help review and distribute awards. The application period will be issued soon; projects are expected to occur April through October, and the city plans to distribute the funds on a rolling basis and complete awards by March.
“This money is for youth climate action,” Arbogast said. “We really want to give this money out.” She added that projects can take many forms — from pollinator gardens to theater groups updating operations for sustainability — and that staff would work with applicants to tweak proposals to meet criteria.
Arbogast noted that Oberlin ran a smaller Bloomberg-funded program the prior year, using $50,000 to support county groups in Lorain, Elyria, Wellington and Oberlin. She said the new program will include an Earth Day kickoff on April 22 and invited meeting attendees to leave contact information to receive the application packet when it is released.
Arbogast and partners will accept and evaluate proposals on a rolling basis; applicants must be an eligible nonprofit or educational institution or use a fiscal agent to receive funds.
