Home › Headwaters Foundation Receives $100,000 Grant for Grassroots Work on Water Issues

Headwaters Foundation Receives $100,000 Grant for Grassroots Work on Water Issues

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

The Headwaters Foundation for Justice has received a $100,000 grant from Midwest Common Vision to address water commodification issues in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Illinois. Through this grant, Headwaters will partner with the IATP Center for Earth, Energy and Democracy (CEED) and Little Village Environmental Justice Organization (LVEJO) to increase awareness around water use issues within low-income communities, tribal communities, indigenous groups and communities of color, creating an informed and organized network of community activists who are prepared to address water commodification issues at the ground level.

Central to the work will be a regional convening this fall bringing environmental justice activists together with scientific and academic experts to identify key issues of concern and the tools and strategies for addressing them. CEED at IATP will provide ongoing support to the grassroots network, linking local groups to resources and technical assistance to inform their education and policy efforts. LVEJO will serve as a grassroots pilot for addressing water issues locally, focusing its efforts on the current proposal to privatize the City of Chicago water system, which has repercussions for the entire Midwest and beyond.

Midwest Common Vision is comprised of a group of regional social justice grantmakers. Spearheaded by the national funders network Funders for LGBTQ Issues (FLGBTQ), Midwest Common Vision came together as a one-time funders collaborative in order to achieve a broader community of practice focused on building healthy communities with widespread equity. In order to bring the theoretical learning into practice, FLGBTQ made monies available to operationalize the work and develop a demonstration grant.

Midwest Common Vision partners include:

  • Maria Cadenas, Cream City Foundation, Milwaukee, WI
  • Gregory Grinley, PFund Foundation, Minneapolis, MN
  • Ryan Barker, Missouri Foundation for Health, St. Louis, MO
  • Evette Cardona, Polk Bros. Foundation, Chicago, IL
  • Consuella Brown, Woods Fund of Chicago, Chicago, IL
     
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