Cool Lot Application 2024-2025
Calling all neighborhood groups, groups of neighbors, and community organizations in Flint’s Wards 1, 2, and 3!
Do you have a vacant lot on your street or organization’s property? Would your neighbors like trees up and down the street to shade the road and sidewalk? Apply to the “Cool Lot” project and partner with Climate Resilient Flint to plant “shade forests” or rain gardens while creating climate-resilient strategies for your neighborhood.
The application portal closes Friday, Oct 11th, 2024 at 5 p.m.
Scroll down for FAQs and Cool Lot project ideas that you your neighbors might propose!
The application will take approximately 7 minutes to complete. Funded lots will be acessible to the larger community and will demonstrate a need for a Cool Lot project. Join us in creating weather-safe, climate resilient neighborhoods!
Print a copy of the Cool Lot application and either email it to us at climateresilientflint@gmail.com or drop it off at the Neighborhood Engagement Hub before 5 p.m. on October 11th (3216 Martin Luther King Ave, Flint, MI 48505).
Build you Cool Lot team.
The Cool Lot project is a community project. Cool Lot applicants should build a Cool Lot team. The application will ask for team members names and contact information. Share the above flyer with potential team members and tell them about the project!
Would you appreciate support filling out the application? Call (810) 584-5022. A CRF team member can help.
What type of Cool Lot project are you interested in?
RAIN GARDEN
Does a corner of your neighborhood or organization’s property flood when it rains? A rain garden project in Royal Oak, MI. Rain gardens collect rain runoff from the street and sidewalk, which waters a garden of native plants.
Image source: https://www.romi.gov/1333/Rain-Garden-Information
Image source: https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2023/09/21/new-tree-planting-projects-to-sprout-in-washington-with-help-from-36m-in-grants/
COOL BLOCK
Does your street need trees to shade pavements, the road, or bus stops? With our partner, the Genesee Conservation District, we will plant down the block in right-of-way areas and/or in front yards close to the sidewalk. All neighbors on the block should be on board and part of your Cool Lot team!
SHADE FOREST
Do you have a vision for an empty lot becoming a shady communal space, where people can play, eat outside, and gather together? Plant a shade forest with red or white oaks, sycamore, horse chesnut — and tulips and magnolia trees for a burst of color in the spring!
What types of trees are you interested in?
The Genesee Conservation District created a PowerPoint for Climate Resilient Flint to help Cool Lot cohort groups choose what trees they’d like for their shade gardens or cool blocks.
Why a planting project?
Will CRF plant on private property?
What does partnering with CRF look like?
Who is eligible to apply?
Do Cool Lot funds just support plant life?
Michigan’s climate is changing. 2023 was the hottest year on record. We can create a safer future together by preparing our neighborhoods for the two most common weather events that Flint will see in its near-future: heat waves and heavy rains. While planting trees and rain gardens are not the only way to build a city’s climate resilience, it’s a great place to start to begin building climate literacy and awareness at the neighborhood scale. See our Intentional Practices for Climate Resilience (coming soon) for additional climate resilience strategies you and your neighbors can take!
CRF will fund Cool Lot projects on properties and land accessible and in service to the community. We will not fund projects on an individual or organization’s private property that is inaccessible to the community (e.g. your backyard, fenced-off areas).
Do you have a lot in mind for a Cool Lot project but are unsure who owns the land? Visit the Flint Property Portal and search for the address to see the property owner.
Do you have questions about a lot’s eligability? Contact the CRF team.
CRF will work with your team to develop a budget relative to your lot size and vision and design and plant "shade forests" or rain gardens. CRF will:
Purchase all plant material
Provide planting tools
Help you muster volunteers for your spring planting party!
As you move through the project with us, you’ll attend Cool Lot cohort forums with other grantee groups, where you’ll: 1) learn how to best care for your lot; 2) develop a neighborhood or organization climate resilience plan to help you stay safe, whatever the weather!
Groups of neighbors, neighborhood groups, and community-serving organizations in Wards 1, 2, and 3. Climate Resilient Flint is dedicated to bringing resources and information to underserved areas of our community. We will all be affected by climate change, but some areas of our city might feel the effects of hazardous weather more acutely than others.
Our climate literacy workshops are open to the entire community. Contact us if you would like to discuss a CRF team member coming to your neighborhood association, club, or Ward meeting to talk about climate resilience and lead a climate reislience planning session.
Not in Wards 1-3 but still interested in the Cool Lot project? Contact us. We’ll share best practices and our process.
Yes, Cool Lot funds can only support the purchase of trees for shade forests or native plants for rain gardens. Cool Lot funds cannot be used for construction or demolition purposes or to fill the lot with equipment of any sort - e.g. playground equipment, barbecues, etc.
We encourage you to imagine Cool Lot funds as Step #1 of your larger vision for the lot! If you search for additional funding elsewhere to continue building your vision, don’t forget to mention that you participated in the Cool Lot project!