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MWMO
Stewardship Fund
Initiated in 2003, the MWMO Stewardship Fund grant program
provides financial assistance to promote community-led
projects and education efforts to improve and conserve water
and natural resources in the watershed. To date, this program
has provided over $820,000 in funding to 41 community-based
projects.
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Above:
Volunteers plant a rain garden in the Marcy Holmes
Neighborhood of Minneapolis as part of a Stewardship Fund
project
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Stewardship Fund
Status Update
In 2006, the MWMO Board moved to suspend new Stewardship
Fund applications for 2007. During this time, the
MWMO is evaluating the effectiveness of the Stewardship Fund
program as currently constituted and preparing recommendations
for potential improvements. This evaluation
includes the following components:
·
An independent assessment of
the program as experienced by past, current, and potential
funding recipients, conducted through consultant interviews
and surveys. The
report of this assessment includes:
- feedback
from current and former grantees on strengths and areas for
program improvement,
- recommendations
for document and procedural improvements,
- strategies
to increase community groups’ interest in being part of
program, and
- strategies
to increase effective outreach to currently underrepresented
communities among MWMO’s grant recipients
·
An examination by MWMO staff of
past and current projects, assessing:
- the
extent to which deliverables stipulated in funding
agreements typically manifest and implement the stated
mission of the MWMO,
- the
track record of funding recipients in generating
deliverables,
- the
quality and sustainability of these deliverables,
- the
concordance between projected and actual budgets and
timelines,
- the
allocation of funds over typical cost categories, and
- the
extent to which the current program serves to build and
maintain local capacity for and understanding of responsible
water resources management.
·
A survey of similar funding and
partnership programs offered by other agencies.
These
observations will be distilled into a proposed framework for
program revisions which will be reviewed by MWMO staff, the
Citizen Advisory Committee, and participants in the consultant
evaluation. It is
the goal of MWMO staff to bring a set of recommendations to
the Board of Commissioners for consideration at the January 8, 2008 meeting.
If a new Stewardship Fund framework is approved at that
time, the revised program would be rolled out in late
January. The
schedule of the 2008 funding application round is likely
to be somewhat accelerated, and a more permanent calendar
would be announced at the time of the rollout to give
potential applicants time to plan and the option to wait for
the next round. |
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2003 Stewardship
Fund partners
|
Organization |
Project |
Funding Amount |
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Marcy Holmes
Neighborhood |
Low-Impact Development |
$39,251 |
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Seward Neighborhood
Group |
Community Education Program |
$5,572 |
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SE Como Improvement
Assn. |
Bridal Veil Pond Rehabilitation |
$16,529 |
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The Green
Institute |
Green Rooftop & Raingarden |
$35,342 |
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Volunteer Stream
Monitoring Partnership |
Watershed Education Project |
$6,593 |
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Longfellow CC /
Seward NG |
Watershed Stewardship Program |
$39,400 |
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Mississippi Corridor
Neighborhood Coalition |
Public Education/River Cleanup |
$11,802 |
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Solstice River /
CGEE |
Solstice River Performance |
$10,000 |
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Hawthorne Area
Community Council |
Rain Garden Initiative |
$10,000 |
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Great River
Greening |
River Gorge Prairie Restoration |
$31,000 |
2004
Stewardship Fund partners
|
Organization |
Project |
Funding Amount |
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Andrew-Riverside Presbyterian
Church |
Demonstration Rain Garden |
$9,200 |
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Downtown Mpls Neighborhood
Assn. |
Parking Lot
BMP Demonstration |
$3,122 |
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Friends of the Mississippi
River |
Gorge Stewards Program |
$32,500 |
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Great River Greening |
River Gorge Prairie
Restoration |
$26,900 |
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Longfellow CC/Seward NG |
Watershed Stewardship
Program |
$39,960 |
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Minneapolis Blooms |
Mpls. Blooms Educational
Project |
$13,231 |
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Mississippi Corridor Neighborhood
Coalition |
Public Education/River
Cleanup |
$21,683 |
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Solstice River / CGEE |
Solstice River
Performance |
$8,890 |
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Northside Arts Collective |
Spring Art Party |
$1,293 |
|
Tree Trust |
Educational Brochure |
$5,000 |
2005
Stewardship Fund partners
|
Organization |
Project |
Funding Amount |
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Black
Storytellers’ Alliance |
ECO-STORIES Project |
$7,921 |
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East
Harriet Farmstead Neighborhood
Association |
Neighborhood Education |
$4,530 |
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Friends
of the Mississippi River |
Gorge Stewards Program |
$33,000 |
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The
Green Institute |
Sustainable Landscaping
Model |
$20,257 |
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Longfellow
Business Association |
7-Sigma Rain Garden
Project |
$25,000 |
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Longfellow
CC / Seward NG |
Watershed Stewardship
Program |
$35,750 |
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Lind-Bohanon
Neighborhood Association |
Water Connects Community |
$4,459 |
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Solstice
River / CGEE |
Solstice River
Performance |
$2,650 |
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Minneapolis
Blooms |
Mpls. Blooms Educational
Project |
$21,337 |
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McKinley
Community |
School Rain Garden |
$2,320 |
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Midtown
Greenway Coalition |
Greenspace Stewardship Program |
$22,527 |
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Marcy-Holmes
Neighborhood Assn. |
BMP tour |
$700 |
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Lyndale
Neighborhood Association |
Healthy Watershed Program |
$25,148 |
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Great
River Greening |
River Gorge Prairie
Restoration |
$34,277 |
2006
Stewardship Fund partners
For more information on any of these
projects, or to learn about future funding opportunities, feel free
to call our office to speak with Daniel Kalmon, Stewardship Fund
Coordinator, at 651.287.0948, ext: 203, or email him at dkalmon@mwmo.org.
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