Resilient Communities Stormwater Initiative

The Resilient Communities Stormwater Initiative, funded by the William Penn Foundation, seeks to manage stormwater and advance other community goals in historically underserved neighborhoods using amplified investment in green stormwater infrastructure (gsi). When thoughtfully designed, GSI can reduce flooding and pollution caused by stormwater runoff, increase neighborhood green space, and contribute other climate-resilient community benefits. The Initiative will engage residents to identify green infrastructure and other climate-resilient projects for their communities. Through this process, a large-scale, integrated demonstration project will be implemented over several blocks in one neighborhood. The goal is that this demonstration will provide a replicable model for future GSI investments in other neighborhoods.

The project began with a series of community roundtables in select neighborhoods. The Initiative contracted with community-based organizations to support the roundtables and help secure meeting locations, provide refreshments and recruit community participants, each of whom will be paid for their participation.