IU program to assist rural communities obtain federal grants for climate resiliency
A partnership at Indiana University is making it easier for rural communities to pursue federal grant money available for climate and resilience projects.
The Indiana Resilience Funding Hub is a creation of the university's Environmental Resilience Institute and the Center for Rural Engagement. The program will assist communities of 50,000 residents or fewer with technical assistance and environmental expertise to submit federal grant applications
“The basic idea is that we want to provide capacity to rural communities to take advantage of these funds available for adaptation and climate mitigation,” said Bill Brown of ERI.
Brown said rural communities often lack people with the expertise to fill out grant forms and shepherd applications through the time-consuming grant process. The new program will help communities fill this gap.
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Who will benefit from the funding hub?
IU researcher Aaron Deslatte conducted a survey in 2022 that found only a handful of local governments in the state have the staff and financial resources for sustainability projects.
“Most local governments in Indiana increasingly recognize their vulnerability to the impacts of climate change, such as flooding and extreme heat,” Deslatte said in a statement. “But even with these new funds being made available, they likely won’t have the capacity to do more than they’re already doing.”
Jacob Simpson, with the Center for Rural Engagement, is working with the funding hub to bring in communities with a couple thousand residents up to 50,000.
“Our goal is to help five to eight communities submit applications within this first calendar year of this project,” Simpson said. “We will learn from this year and figure out how to move forward in the future.”
That doesn’t mean the funding hub won’t be able to help more communities. The team also hopes to help connect or refer communities to appropriate resources whether or not a grant is available.
What kind of projects will the funding help?
There are rural communities across the state that face acute risks from climate change, ERI’s Managing Director Sarah Mincey said.
“Flooding, heat waves and vector-borne disease all present threats to health and infrastructure,” she said. “Particular concerns for rural areas to start thinking about is how climate change is threatening agriculture-based economies.”
The federal funding, coming from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act, includes billions of dollars available to states and communities for infrastructure needs, alternative energy sources and preparing for electric vehicles.
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Potential projects can include anything from public transportation and building retrofits to agriculture and photovoltaics.
“There are tools that allow communities to access data about how climate change will affect the community, what will be the impact in next 50 years and what should they be concerned about and preparing for,” ERI’s Brown said.
How can communities learn more about the hub?
The hub is funded for a year through the Energy Foundation and the Rural Climate Partnership, and Mincey said this program helps ERI fit within the university’s strategic plan providing service to the state through its research.
The Indiana Resilience Funding Hub is conducting a webinar May 11 on clean energy for farms and rural businesses.
The Hub has its own webpage on IU’s website with contact information for the program’s team members: https://eri.iu.edu/who-we-work-with/local-governments/indiana-resilience-funding-hub.html
Karl Schneider is an IndyStar environment reporter. You can reach him at karl.schneider@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter @karlstartswithk
IndyStar's environmental reporting project is made possible through the generous support of the nonprofit Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana University program helps rural communities with climate change
