May 2024 – Your Members-Only Newsletter
By Kelly Morton
Published June 13, 2024
Welcome to the August Green Umbrella Members-Only Newsletter! Read on for more Member Benefits, special events, news, and more.
Green Umbrella’s Local Government Climate Action Showcase had over 60 attendees who gathered to learn and celebrate our summer climate action fellows and their work with the Cities of Covington, Milford, and Oxford. The showcase featured incredible research and insights into energy benchmarking, greenspace and green infrastructure, community engagement, and more.
Our Climate Action Fellowship program occurs annually and is dedicated to bridging the gap between climate concepts and real-world experience. Thank you to the Greater Cincinnati Foundation for supporting this work and to our amazing inaugural fellows: Elese Daniel, Ella O’Maley, and David Naibei!
Creating equitable and accessible greenspace requires collaboration, communication, and long-term planning. Understanding that support is needed in this work, Green Umbrella’s Greenspace Alliance has created a two-part training module and workbook that can serve as a guide and resource for establishing these spaces in your community.
You can access the workbook and accompanying training video on our Member Resource page. Make an appointment with Green Umbrella’s Greenspace Alliance Manager on her calendar here to discuss and identify next steps.
August 9 @ 2:30 pm – 3:30 pm, UC’S Digital Futures Building
Join us for a 1-hour open office hours session where we’ll offer guidance and help members navigate the new Local Food Climate Impact Calculator, a GHG emissions calculator created for Green Umbrella and its members by Data Bloom. Members will receive technical assistance and coaching from the creator, Timothy NeCamp, and our Food Policy Council Director, Maddie Chera, as well as hear from peer food systems leaders currently using or looking to use the calculator.
In case you missed it, watch the recording of our previous session, “Tracking Greenhouse Gas Emissions Savings” and download the Calculator and user prompts here.
September 5 from 3:00-5:00 pm at UC’s Digital Futures Building in Cincinnati, Ohio
This members-only training, in partnership with Donovan Energy, will focus on how communities can take advantage of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) Direct Pay Program – an opportunity to claim clean energy tax credits. For the first time, the federal government will give tax-free, direct cash funding up to 70% of project costs to tax-exempt entities like local governments, schools, hospitals, public utilities, houses of worship, and nonprofit organizations to build renewable energy projects like solar arrays, wind turbines, and storage resources like batteries.
September 10, 4:00 PM, Virtual
Are you a school district stakeholder? Join our Green Schoolyards Manager and local school policy experts, including speakers from Ohio Department of Education & Workforce and Boston Public Schools, for this interactive conversation about how you can get directly involved in school wellness. Local school wellness policy can drive change and have a tremendous impact on food, health, and environmental systems for school communities, neighborhoods, and cities. A diverse and collaborative Local School Wellness Policy Committee has the ability to ensure there is equitable distribution of resources and infrastructure across the district. Get involved in the conversation and join our call on September 10th!
September 30, 5:00 PM, 1819 Innovation Hub
Green Umbrella is proud to host this year’s 2030 Districts Network Summit in Cincinnati – with two days of internal meetings with 2030 District staff and municipal sustainability personnel from across North America’s twenty-four 2030 Districts. We invite everyone passionate about healthy, high-performing buildings to join us for a kick-off celebration on September 30th, whether you’re an existing Cincinnati 2030 District partner, own or manage a commercial building, work in the commercial building sector or in facilities management, or are a champion of creating a more sustainable built environment.
September 19, 5:00 PM, Urban Artifact
Join Green Umbrella for an evening of connection, storytelling, and celebration of our region’s food system champions. The evening will feature delicious food from a variety of local businesses and each attendee will receive two drink tickets. Thank you to Urban Artifact for hosting us in their beautiful event space, The Reliquary.
All proceeds and donations will support Green Umbrella’s food system programs – the Greater Cincinnati Regional Food Policy Council and the Common Orchard Project.
The HUD Office of Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes has $50M available to assist communities to develop capacity to implement a lead hazard control program in targeted communities. The funding focuses on the following areas: workforce development, training staff and contractors, building partnerships and local coalitions, identifying target areas, and developing outreach and policies. Eligible applicants include governments, county governments, city or township governments, special district governments, and indigenous groups.
Through the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the State of Ohio was awarded $249 million by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), via a formula grant, to help eligible Ohioans save on home energy costs offering rebates towards projects aimed at improving energy efficiency through the following programs:
The Ohio Department of Development’s Office of Energy and Environment is currently designing the program for implementation in compliance with DOE requirements and is expected to submit the program for federal approval by Jan. 31, 2025.
More funding opportunities can always be found at Green Umbrella’s Member Funding and Technical Assistance Tracker.
Join us on August 19th for a 1-hour webinar to learn how climate change has impacted air quality in Greater Cincinnati. This webinar is the seventh installment of our series,”Climate Health Equity,” where we will hear from local expert, Dr. Partrick H. Ryan of UC’s Department of Pediatrics, about chronic respiratory disease including asthma and how we can individually and systemically address air quality issues across our region.
Next month’s webinar topic: Climate Change & Allergies
Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority (SORTA) is the public transport agency that serves Hamilton County residents and provides commuter routes from Clermont, Butler and Warren counties into Cincinnati. Their service, METRO, is a non-profit, tax-funded public service that operates 365 days a year.
METRO offers 26 local-service routes, 19 express routes, 5 Job Connection reverse-commute routes, provides nearly 7,000 ride per day to Cincinnati Public Schools, and will have connected our community with 20 million rides by 2026. Special thanks to CEO Darryl Haley and Senior Director of the new Bus Rapid Transit System Sharyn LaCombe for presenting at Green Umbrella’s recent Innovations in Transportation Parlor Event!
Beth Cundiff is currently reading “Freedom is a Constant Struggle” by Angela Y. Davis.
“I first chose to read this work to deepen my understanding of intersectionality, and how struggles for freedom are connected around the world. As I read Davis’s words, I gained insight and enlightenment about the importance of collective leadership in movements for change. Davis has inspired me to commit to deepen my understanding of what needs to be done to bring us closer to a better future.”
-Beth Cundiff, Green Umbrella Grants Manager
Green Umbrella members also have access to our members-only newsletters and e-blasts. Join today to receive these perks!