Circuit Trails Community Grant Program Opens Applications

Featured image: Daniel Paschall, East Coast Greenway Alliance

Emilia Crotty, Director, Trails and Equitable Access, Southeast Region

Funding is now available to help make Greater Philadelphia’s multi-use trail network more inclusive! For the second time, the Pennsylvania Environmental Council is accepting applications for the Circuit Trails Coalition Community Grant Program, funded by the William Penn Foundation.

The program provides one-year grants ranging from $1,000 to $12,000 for projects that increase a sense of welcome, belonging, and safety among under-represented groups on the Circuit Trails, a 411-mile network of multi-use trails throughout nine counties in the Greater Philadelphia region (PA and NJ).

Grant applications are due by Monday, September 30, 2024 at 5pm. Grant program guidelines and the complete application can be found here.

Since PEC established the Circuit Trails Coalition Community Grant Program in late 2022, 16 grantee partners across Greater Philadelphia have received a total of $317,000. Through a combination of funding from the William Penn Foundation, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, grantee partners have conducted an array of projects and programming on and along the Circuit Trails from Trenton to Camden, NJ, and West Philadelphia to Chester, PA.

Funded projects include cycling programs for young people across Philadelphia, an art activation on the D&R Canal Trail in Trenton, the Outdoors for Everyone initiative led by Disability Pride PA, a trail-based summer camp for girls in Southwest Philly, environmental education along the Chester Creek Trail, a pedal-to-paddle program on the Schuylkill River Trail for students with literacy-based learning disabilities, and much more. Last year, PEC produced videos highlighting two grantee partner projects, Healing Through the Land and Hike+Heal, showcasing the groups’ work to welcome more Black women and women of color into the outdoors.

PEC encourages potential applicants to take advantage of the following resources:

  • Sign up for the Community Grant Program informational webinar on Wednesday, August 28 from 2pm-3:30pm here.
  • Sign up for an optional one-on-one meeting with grant program staff before submitting your application here.
  • Find a more detailed list of grant program objectives and project examples here.

Apply today!