City announces opening of the 2026 Community Resilience and Environmental Justice Fund

Organizations can apply by June 5 to be considered for $30,000 grants supporting environmental justice initiatives.

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. — The City’s Office of Sustainability, in partnership with the Philadelphia City Fund, has announced the opening of the application period for the Community Resilience and Environmental Justice (CREJ) Fund. Applications will be open through June 5.

The primary goal of the CREJ Fund is to change the systems and build environment conditions that affect environmental justice communities and increase frontline community resilience to climate change.

The CREJ Fund will award $30,000 grants with a two-year grant agreement to focus on 12 projects across the following tracks:

• Circularity and Waste Reduction
• Climate Emergency Preparedness
• Energy Burden and Heat Resilience
• Food Sovereignty and Land Security
• Indoor Air Quality

CREJ recipients will also have access to a suite of wraparound capacity-building services to support long-term organizational sustainability and development. These will include strategic planning, project planning, team coaching, conflict mediation, grant writing, audio-visual media development, communications outreach and more.

The CREJ Fund is supported by the Office of Sustainability Division of Environmental Justice (EJ), Philadelphia Water Department, and William Penn Foundation. The EJ Division works to improve access to environmental health data, information and resources, and support community organizations with grants, technical assistance, educational programming and networking opportunities.

“This year’s five application tracks recognize and respond to the priority environmental burdens and community assets raised by residents in OOS’ environmental justice community workshops,” said Elizabeth Lankenau, director of the Office of Sustainability. “We look forward to seeing this continued investment in community organizations facilitate a safer, cleaner, and greener Philadelphia.”

To be eligible for a grant from the CREJ Fund, organizations must be:

• Located in Philadelphia and serving Philadelphians experiencing environmental injustices.
• Led by, in partnership with, and/or serving people most affected by the problem or issue that is being addressed.
• A 501(c)3 nonprofit, faith-based institution, childcare center, or senior center.
• All other community-based organizations must be working with a 501(c)3 fiscal sponsor.
• Working on a project that advances the CREJ Fund goal of changing the systems and built environment conditions that affect EJ communities and increasing frontline community resilience to climate change.

Full details about the 2026 CREJ Fund are available in the Office of Sustainability’s blog. For more information, please visit: www.phila.gov/sustainability.