Equitable Park Funding Hub

The Equitable Park Funding Hub provides easy access to information on a variety of funding sources relevant for parks and recreation in low-income communities and communities of color, and highlights the partnerships required for successful funding.

Parks, trails, and nature support public health, workforce development, local economies, the environment, and community cohesion. And yet historic disinvestment has left many communities with the greatest need with the least access to quality parks and recreation opportunities.

The Equitable Park Funding Hub highlights six sectors and summarizes grant and technical assistance opportunities under each, including eligibility, park funding use, match requirement, and other important information to help determine if the program is the right fit for a project. It is not intended to be a comprehensive source of funding opportunities but a starting point with examples and links to the various agencies that oversee the programs.

As many federal funding sources in the Hub are competitive, require match dollars, and often cannot cover maintenance or programming, stable local public funding is essential for a successful and equitable park system. Local funding enables communities to ensure investments promote equitable impacts and address local disparities.

The COVID-19 pandemic shined a spotlight on the need for safe, quality parks and on park inequities throughout communities. Now more than ever, high-quality parks and public spaces in disadvantaged communities require creative and wide-ranging partnerships to unlock public and private funding sources. We hope you will find this resource helpful in assisting with your local park funding needs.

View Funding Areas

The Equitable Park Funding Hub is the result of a two-year collaborative research effort between the City Parks Alliance, Groundwork U.S.A., and the Urban Institute. Support for this work was provided by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and The Speedwell Foundation.

Explore Equitable Funding Strategies for Parks and Green Infrastructure

The Equitable Park Funding Hub is a living resource intended to be a starting point for researching funding strategies with examples, case studies, and links for further information.

Explore each funding area in depth with links below, or use the sorting feature to help you identify the funding sources that may best match your needs.
We invite you to help us make this Hub stronger by sharing your experiences applying for, and implementing programs with these funding sources. Share your experience below.

Funding Areas

Conservation

Conservation funding can be used to create equitable access to park and recreation amenities, which is critical to improving the health and quality of life of residents in low-income communities.

Brownfields

Brownfields contribute to blight and prevent reinvestment in economically distressed communities. Transforming them into parks can drive reinvestment and improve community health.

Climate Resilience & Stormwater Management

Parks, trees and nature play an important role in cooling neighborhoods and building resilience to natural disasters. Communities of color often lack the greenspace needed to mitigate the impacts of climate change.

Community Development

Increasingly, community reinvestment efforts are leveraging the benefits of parks to create vibrant, healthy, and livable neighborhoods with access to jobs and affordable housing.

Local Funding

Stable, local public funding is essential for a successful and equitable park system. It is the primary source for critical maintenance, operations and programming.

Transportation

Federal transportation funding can create trail connections for parks and neighborhoods, which provide new outdoor recreation and commuting options, air-quality and congestion benefits, and local economic development opportunities.

EXPLORE PARK FUNDING

Use this tool to filter, sort, and learn about funding opportunities and potential partnerships.

Technical Assistance to Brownfields (TAB)
Technical Assistance to Brownfields providers are regionally-based organizations that offer assistance to jurisdictions and organizations interested in exploring the viability of a brownfield conversion project. TAB providers are funded by the EPA, so their technical services are free.
Match from other sources
Not Applicable
Eligibility for Accessing Funds
Nonprofit organizations, local governments, tribal governments, tribal organizations
Learn More
Five Star and Urban Waters Restoration Program
Co-sponsors, the EPA and the Urban Waters Federal Partnership, work to develop community capacity with modest financial and technical assistance to diverse local partnerships for urban restoration and education programs. Streambank and shoreline stabilization, stormwater management, urban tree canopy restoration, and projects to prevent trash in waterways are just a few of the projects awarded grants. The grants are administered by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation's (NFWF) Five Star and Urban Waters Restoration Grant Program.
Match from other sources
50 to 75%
Park Funding Use
Capital/Land Acquisition, Operations/Maintenance
Learn More
Environmental Justice Small Grants Program
This program empowers communities working on solutions to local environmental and public health issues. The program helps communities understand and address exposure to multiple environmental harms and risks. All projects are associated with at least one qualified environmental statute.
Rockaway Waterfront Alliance (NY) through their project titled “Shore Corps – environmental stewards youth internship and workforce development program” aims to ensure a healthy and resilient Rockaway by conducting an internship program to engages the community youth to learn about stewardship and environmental conservation projects. High schoolers gain hands-on experience through tree maintenance, organized beach clean ups, and dune restoration, alongside critical workforce and leadership training.

Baltimore Green Space (MD) aims to improve the health and accessibility of urban forest patches that provide residents with heat relief and contribute to improving the air quality in underserved neighborhoods. Field research will be conducted by graduate students from Morgan State University and/or University of Maryland, Baltimore County to determine how much progress has been made in improving the health of 10 forests first surveyed in 2016. At least 10 neighborhood Forest Stewards and 200 Baltimore City residents will be educated about the importance of forest patches in mitigating neighborhood heat islands and trained in maintenance efforts such as invasive vine removal.

Match from other sources
Not Applicable
Park Funding Use
Programming
Eligibility for Accessing Funds
Nonprofit organizations, tribal governments, tribal organizations
Learn More

Additional Equitable Funding Research

Report

Investing in Equitable Urban Park Systems: Case Studies and Recommendations

Learn from seven municipalities using equitable, data-driven park investment strategies for distributing park resources.