Food and Climate Equity (FACE) Grant program

Food and Climate Equity (FACE) Grant program is sponsored by City of Austin, Texas (Austin Climate Action & Resilience). This program provides direct funding for community-led solutions that promote transformative change in food, climate, and resilience, aiming to uplift those most impacted by systemic inequities, eliminate health disparities, and improve quality of life.

Food and Climate Equity Grants | Austin Climate Action and Resilience | AustinTexas. gov Austin Climate Action and Resilience Austin Climate Action and Resilience Food and Climate Equity Grants Food and Climate Equity Grants Are you working to address issues related to food, climate change, or resilience in your community? Discover how a Food and Climate Equity Grant can help you meet your project goals.

The Food and Climate Equity (FACE) Grant program supports a more just and resilient Austin by providing direct funding for community-led solutions that enable transformative change in the areas of food, climate, and resilience. The program aims to uplift the experience of those most impacted by systemic and structural inequities, eliminate disparities in health outcomes, and improve quality of life for all.

By offering grants up to $3,000, we hope to support community organizations that represent and/or serve racially and economically diverse Austinites and have unique insight into their communities' needs. Applications are now open! Register and complete your application in our grant portal by Thursday, July 16, 2026, at 11:59 p.

m . You may save your application and return to it, but it must be submitted by the deadline to be considered. For more information on how to register and use the grant portal to apply, view our guide on how to apply (PDF, 3.

4MB). Consulte nuestra guía sobre cómo solicitar en español (PDF, 3. 3MB).

Applicants will be notified of selection decisions by September 1, 2026. If you have any questions, need additional support completing your application, would like to request a paper application or an application in another language, please email climate@austintexas. gov or call 512-974-1364.

About the grant and who should apply? History In 2023, Austin Climate Action & Resilience held separate mini grant competitions, the Food Justice Mini Grant and the Resilience Mini Grant , awarding a total of $150,000 to community-driven projects.

In 2024, we launched the Food and Climate Equity Grants program to expand the grant opportunities available across the City and make it easier for community members to access support for their programs all in one place. In 2025, $75,000 was distributed across 25 projects .

The FACE Grant Program aims to: Encourage underrepresented voices to be leaders of change Support local action to reduce inequities Build relationships and trust between City staff and community organizations The program welcomes ideas and projects from all applicants who want to build food justice, climate justice, and community resilience in Austin.

Proposals led by communities negatively impacted by systemic inequities will be prioritized.

Funding is prioritized for projects that can meaningfully engage with the impacted groups, such as: Black, Native American/Indigenous, Latinx, and Asian communities of color People who are pregnant, nursing, and/or caring for infants People with chronic disease Immigrant, migrant, and/or refugee communities People with disabilities or limited mobility People with mental illness or mental health issues People experiencing homelessness People with past criminal records Grant requirements and qualifications Requirements This program is seeking applicants who are leading transformative change within the communities they represent.

Funded proposals may include ongoing work or new projects. Funding is available for projects addressing one or more of the following program areas: food justice, climate justice, or community resilience. Applications will be accepted from non-profits, schools, for-profit businesses, homeowner associations, faith-based groups, grassroots initiatives, and more.

To be considered for the grant, applicants must meet the requirements below.

Applicants must be serving the Austin-Travis County area Awardees are not required to be 501(c)3 registered non-profits, but organizations/entities or their fiscal sponsor must register as a vendor with the City of Austin before funding can be awarded Only one application is allowed per applicant There are no insurance requirements for this grant Funds cannot be used for any political activity, including lobbying or campaigning Organizations must commit to completing the following tasks: Share results, reflections, challenges, and stories Awardees will submit a Final Report by June 1, 2027, describing project progress, challenges, and how funds were spent Projects most likely to receive a FACE Grant go beyond a surface-level solution.

Any individual, group, or organization applying for a FACE Grant should consider: How the project addresses a community issue related to food, climate change, or resilience How the project leads to future community growth, empowerment, and success by addressing the root cause of the issue Groups or organizations that were awarded FACE Grants in 2025 may apply in 2026 as long as the following criteria are met: You must have spent all the 2025 awarded funds You must have submitted your complete 2025 Final Report in the grant portal Contact us if you have questions or requests about your 2025 award and eligibility for a 2026 FACE Grant.

Want to learn more about how applications will be scored? View our grant scoring rubric (PDF; 4. 3MB).

Vea nuestra rúbrica de puntuación de la subvención (PDF en Español; 4. 3MB). Grant categories and project ideas Jump to: Food Justice | Climate Justice | Community Resilience By food justice, we refer broadly to movements advocating for transformational change around how our food moves from the fields to our forks.

This includes the concept of food sovereignty, or the right of communities to define their own food and agriculture systems.

Example projects could include: Low-cost home meal or grocery delivery services Community events centered on food systems or food justice Community garden supplies and resources Composting or waste processing equipment Innovative food rescue techniques Value-added food upcycling pilot programs (e.g., ugly fruit juice or preserves or spent grain bread) Climate Justice refers to the findings that climate emissions and climate change can have disproportionately harmful social, economic, and public health impacts on low-income and disadvantaged communities.

Climate justice work aims to reverse or reduce those disparities and increase climate awareness and action. Eligible projects will demonstrate alignment with the Austin Climate Equity Plan . Successful grants will be designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while also addressing the intersection of climate and justice.

Example projects could include: Education programs at schools, youth-serving, or youth-led organizations Tool libraries or repair workshops Increased or improved monitoring or data collection, such as air quality monitoring Promoting climate or air quality awareness Promote or enhance active or public transit Promoting or implementing emissions reduction strategies What is Community Resilience?

Community Resilience refers to the capacity of a community to recover, adapt, and thrive before, during, and after a disruptive event by working together, planning, and building supportive networks.

This includes the concept of community resilience networks, or a group of trusted community groups that provide information and services before, during, or after a disruptive event, and together create a hyper-local network of resources that are accessible to the population nearby.

Example projects could include: Holding a community workshop focused on creating a household emergency plan Building community capacity, such as creating a community ambassador program before, during, and after emergencies Community resilience network programming, such as job training or childcare Free or low-cost public health initiatives Note: projects may cover multiple areas listed above or include one main area of focus.

Application tips and examples Wondering if a FACE Grant is right for your project? Curious about what a successful application might include? We put together a list of examples and tips based on past successful applications.

Use it to help you put together the best application you can. Tips for writing a successful FACE Grant application Successful applicants: Describe how the project is equitable. Equitable means a project that works to address systemic inequities, such as barriers that impact one group of people or geography more than another.

Serving a group that faces inequities is a great start, and more successful applications will include how the project helps break down barriers and address the root causes of those inequities. Describe how the project is transformative. Transformative means that the project has a greater impact on the community than just the immediate benefit.

For example, a program that provides food is a great benefit. However, a transformative program will provide additional information or services that empower someone to take more positive action in the future. For example, a program that provides food alongside cooking or nutrition education that has a lasting impact.

Have a helper read the application before submitting it. Having a second person review the application can help check for errors or things that were left out. It can also bring up questions about areas that need clarification.

Plan on an extra few days to a week before the due date to share with another person and get feedback that you can use in your final edits. Use the rubric to check for completion. Look over each of your responses and compare them to the rubric provided on the FACE grant website to make sure you are answering the questions to the best of your ability.

Do not rely too much on AI. AI can be a great tool to help you create an outline for an application, but if it writes the whole thing, it will leave out important information about the project! If you use AI, make sure at least one human reads over and rewrites the application to add the necessary details and check for accuracy.

Read all of the questions before starting. This can help you plan ahead and avoid duplicating answers where you don't need to. Sometimes repeating yourself is helpful, but you don't want to make extra work for yourself!

Review the support materials on the FACE Grant website, and reach out if you have questions! Examples of successful applications View examples of successful applications (PDF; 459KB). Lea ejemplos de aplicaciones exitosas en español (PDF; 480KB).

Please note that these are not complete applications and may not include the full answer to each question. Ellipses (...) represent words that have been edited out.

The applicant organizations have given permission.

Explore the impact of the grants 2024 Food and Climate Equity (FACE) Grants Program Impact Report 2023 Food Justice Mini Grants Program Impact Report 2023 Resilience Mini Grants Program Recap 2022 Food Justice Mini Grants Program Impact Report 2024 Food and Climate Equity (FACE) Grants Program Impact Report 2023 Food Justice Mini Grants Program Impact Report 2023 Resilience Mini Grants Program Recap 2022 Food Justice Mini Grants Program Impact Report