MGP-2014 Final Report Cover
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Metropolitan Grants Program Trails and Healthy RecreaƟon for All 2014 Final Report Metropolitan Grants Program 2014 Final Report Table of Contents Program Description .................................................................................................................................... 1 List of Community Support Grants ............................................................................................................ 1 List of Project Support Grants ................................................................................................................... 2 List of Earn‐a‐Bike/Community Bicycling Grants ...................................................................................... 3 TABLE: Total MGP Investment by Metropolitan Area .............................................................................. 4 Organizational Support ............................................................................................................................. 4 Appendices ................................................................................................................................................... 4 A. Community Support Grants – Detailed Descriptions ........................................................................... 5 B. Project Support Grants – Detailed Descriptions ................................................................................... 8 C. Earn‐a‐Bike/Community Bicycling Grants – Detailed Descriptions .................................................... 11 D. Example Letters of Agreement ........................................................................................................... 15 Young cyclists enjoying Walk n’ Rollers bicycle festival on the Ballona Creek Trail in Culver City, CA. Cover photos: Cincinnati’s Queen City Bike Earn‐A‐Bike participants celebrate at the end of their four‐week bicycle safety course (top); Guadalupe River Park Conservancy’s Trail Ambassadors complete a service project on the Guadalupe River Trail in San Jose (bottom left); Earn‐a‐Bike participants learn safe riding skills in Columbus, OH (bottom right). Metropolitan Grants Program (MGP) A Partnership between The Coca‐Cola Foundation, Rails‐to‐Trails Conservancy and Trail Building Communities across the Country Program Description In September 2008, The Coca‐Cola Foundation provided a generous $300,000 two‐year grant to Rails‐to‐ Trails Conservancy (RTC) to create the Metropolitan Grants Program (MGP), a pass‐through grant program that supports exemplary trail organizations and initiatives in select metropolitan areas across the country. Coca‐Cola continued to support this work and awarded RTC four one‐year $150,000 grants in 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014 to continue growing the program. The grants facilitated through RTC are assisting communities in their efforts to increase trail use and provide easy access for more than two million people living near these trails. In 2014, RTC provided expertise and funding in the form of pass‐through grants to 16 trail organizations, including: six project support grants for specific trail development, expansion and enhancement projects; four community support grants to enhance operations and programming of trail organizations; and six Earn‐a‐Bike/Community Bicycling grants for the implementation of youth bicycle safety and maintenance education programs in which participants were awarded bicycles and/or provided a fleet of bicycles for community use. This mix of grant opportunities allows RTC to support multiple organizations across the country and respond to the needs of local communities by investing in groups that can effectively apply funds to encourage healthy living through trail use and community stewardship. During the last six years, the MGP has provided much needed funding to build and improve trails across the country and has supported dozens of local organizations that encourage trail use and stewardship. This funding helps make trails essential to the fabric of these diverse urban communities. Below is a list of the innovative organizations and projects supported by the MGP. In some cases we have allocated the funding in a particular region to multiple groups and projects to leverage a wider range of support for local trail building efforts. Please see Appendices A, B and C for organization descriptions and project investment details. Community Support Grants | Total: $18,500 These organizational capacity building grants were given to exemplary local trail building organizations working in select metropolitan areas. The MGP invested $18,500 total in the metropolitan regions of Los Angeles, Miami and San Jose. Below are the specifics for each grant made in each region: Organization: Walk ‘n Rollers ‐‐ $4,850 Location: Culver City, CA Contact Name: Jim Shanman, Founder Trail: Ballona Creek Trail Organization: Palos Verdes/South Bay Audubon Society ‐‐ $4,850 Location: Palos Verdes, CA Contact Name: Marcos Trinidad, Audubon YES Coordinator Trail: Los Angeles River Bike Path 1 Organization: Urban Health Partnerships ‐‐ $5,000 Location: Miami, FL Contact Name: Isabel Rovira Trail: M‐Path Organization: Green Mobility Network ‐‐ $5,000 Location: Miami, FL Contact Name: Anthony Garcia, Chairman of the Board Trail: Ludlam Trail Organization: Guadalupe River Park Conservancy ‐‐ $3,800 Location: San Jose, CA Contact Name and Position: Leslee Hamilton, Executive Director Local Trail: Guadalupe River Trail Project Support Grants | Total: $41,500 Support for trail development projects that enhance infrastructure, amenities, and/or programs to benefit communities surrounding the trail. This year the Metropolitan Grants Program invested $41,500 total in the metropolitan regions of Boston, Miami, New York, Orlando and Putnam County, FL. Below are the specifics for each grant made in each region: Organization: Bike to the Sea ‐‐ $5,000 Location: Boston, MA Contact Name: Steve Winslow Trail: Northern Strand Trail Organization: Green Mobility Network ‐‐ $5,000 Location: Miami, FL Contact Name: Anthony Garcia, Chairman of the Board Trail: Ludlam Trail Organization: Friends of the Monmouth County Park System ‐‐ $9,000 Location: Monmouth County, NJ (New York metro) Contact Name: Maria Wojciechowski, Liaison Trail: Henry Hudson Trail Organization: Friends of Norwalk River Valley Trail Location: Georgetown, CT (New York metro) Contact name: Pat Sesto, President Trail: Norwalk River Valley Trail Organization: City of Kissimmee, FL ‐‐ $5,000 Location: Kissimmee, FL (Orlando metro) Contact Name: Randy Schrader, Senior Planner Trail: Shingle Creek Trail Organization: Putnam County, FL ‐‐ $5,000 Location: Palatka (Putnam County, FL) Contact Name: Rick Leary, County Administrator Trail: Lake City to St. Augustine Rail‐Trail 2 Earn‐a‐Bike/Community Bicycling Grants | Total: $43,500 MGP invested in Baltimore, Cincinnati, Columbus, Houston, Indianapolis, and Richmond, CA to directly support youth programs that provide bicycle safety and maintenance education on trails and/or to provide bicycle fleets for free community use. More than 150 youth participants were served through this program, and hundreds of community members will now have free access to bicycle fleets on trails in Baltimore and Richmond. Below are the specifics for each grant made in each region: Organization: Baltimore City Department of Parks and Recreation ‐‐ $4,500 Location: Baltimore, MD Contact: Molly Gallant, Outdoor Recreation Coordinator Trail: Herring Run Trail Organization: Queen City Bike ‐‐ $7,500 Location: Cincinnati, OH Contact: Nern Ostendorf, Executive Director Trail: Mill Creek Greenway Trail Organization: Yay! Bikes ‐‐ $7,500 Location: Columbus, OH Contact: Meredith Joy, Program Director Trail: Olentangy Trail Organization: Workshop Houston‐‐ $10,000 Location: Houston, TX Contact: Katy Goodman, Co‐Director Local Trail: Columbia Tap Rail‐Trail Organization: Freewheelin’ Community Bikes ‐‐ $7,500 Location: Indianapolis, IN Contact: Jillian Lain, Executive Director Trail: Monon Trail Organization: Pogo Park ‐‐ $6,500 Location: Richmond, CA Contact Name: Toody Maher, Executive Director Local Trail: Richmond Greenway 3 Total MGP Investment by Metropolitan Area Community Project Support Earn‐A‐Bike Total MGP Support Grant Grant $5,000‐ Grant $6,500‐ Investment $3,800 ‐ $5,000 $9,000 $10,000 Baltimore X $4,500 Boston X $9,000 Cincinnati X $7,500 Columbus X $7,500 Houston X $10,000 Indianapolis X $7,500 Los Angeles metro X X $9,700 Miami X X $10,000 New York metro X X $17,500 Orlando, FL metro X $5,000 (Kissimmee, FL) Putnam County, FL X $5,000 San Jose X $3,800 SF Bay Area (Richmond, CA) X $6,500 TOTAL MGP INVESTMENT $18,500 $41,500 $43,500 $103,500 The full amount ($103,500) directed to re‐granting has been distributed as of September 29, 2014. Refer to the Appendices for detailed project reports. Organizational Support | Total $50,000 RTC is using organizational support funding to meet the following objectives: Grants management for the MGP, Focused technical assistance in trail building communities, and Support of our Mapping Initiative. Status Update: Grants Management of MGP RTC staff in all five offices (national headquarters and four regional field offices) worked with local partners to develop projects and programs that would maximize the investment and, in some cases, leverage additional dollars to support trail development and programs. This year for example, MGP funding helped leverage $65,000 from the Florida Recreational Trails Program for additional