The Southeast Michigan Resilience Fund partners have announced $1.5 million in grant funding for five projects that will benefit communities and wildlife habitats in southeast Michigan. The grants were awarded by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) and will leverage $900,000 in matching contributions to generate a total conservation impact of more than $2.4 million.

These investments will strengthen regional resilience and improve water quality for communities by installing green infrastructure, increasing urban tree canopy and restoring riparian and floodplain habitat. The projects selected for funding will provide habitat for wildlife such as migratory birds and pollinators while also creating and enhancing public green space.

“The Southeast Michigan Resilience Fund is prioritizing grantmaking where the needs of communities and nature meet,” said Jeff Trandahl, executive director and CEO of NFWF. “The grants awarded will enhance the way communities engage with nature by creating public green space, enhancing the quality and connectivity of habitat, and reducing the impact of climate change through green infrastructure.”

“We are pleased to continue EPA’s participation and investment of Great Lakes Restoration Initiative dollars in the communities of Southeast Michigan,” said Teresa Seidel, director of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Great Lakes National Program Office. “These projects will deliver tangible results to these communities that have for too long been underserved.”

The Southeast Michigan Resilience Fund is a grantee partner of Kresge’s Climate Resilient and Equitable Water Systems (CREWS) initiative, which consists of more than 30 organizations working to advance equitable solutions to climate-related storm and flood impacts on low-income communities.

The projects supported by the conservation grants will:

• Add 3.8 million gallons of stormwater storage
• Plant more than 100 trees to increase stormwater storage and habitat
• Restore 29 acres of habitat
• Improve the quality and connectivity of the region’s unique habitats
• Improve quality of life by increasing public access to natural areas and parks through multiple new access points and 2.5 miles of trails

Seven corporate, foundation, and government funding partners have joined NFWF to support the Southeast Michigan Resilience Fund, including: Cleveland-Cliffs, Fred A. and Barbara M. Erb Family Foundation, The Kresge Foundation, The Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation, The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and The U.S. Forest Service.

Southeast Michigan Resilience Fund 2024 grant recipients include:

• Detroit Zen Center, to expand green stormwater infrastructure and public green space using community education, accessible green roofs, bioretention gardens and native plants.
• Trinity Health Michigan, to improve recreation spaces and restore mature forests, wetlands, meadowlands and a prairie on Trinity Health Ann Arbor’s hospital campus.
• Wayne State University, to implement a large green infrastructure plan using native plant species to improve stormwater capture and increase green spaces within the Jefferson-Chalmers neighborhood.
• Detroit Hives, to transform eight vacant lots by installing public green spaces and rain gardens and integrating native plants to attract pollinators and reduce stormwater runoff.
• St. Suzanne Cody Rouge Community Resource Center, to improve green stormwater infrastructure by building and maintaining rain gardens, continuing youth and adult education programs, and developing long-term solutions to protect native plants and pollinator habitat.

Since 2018, the Southeast Michigan Resilience Fund has awarded 39 grants totaling more than $9.2 million, leveraging an additional $11.5 million in matching contributions to generate a total conservation investment of more than $20.7 million.

To learn more about the Southeast Michigan Resilience Fund and the projects announced today, please visit nfwf.org/semichigan.