Workforce Opportunities for Rural Communities (WORC) Initiative Demonstration Grants

Transformative Climate Communities Round 6 PROJECT DEVELOPMENT Grant (FY 25-26) is sponsored by Strategic Growth Council. The TCC Program furthers the purposes of AB 32 (Nunez, 2006) and AB 2722 (Burke, 2016) by funding projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) through the development and implementation of neighborhood-level transformative climate community plans that include multiple coordinated GHG emissions reduction projects that provide local economic, environmental, and health benefits to disadvantaged communities. The Transformative Climate Communities Program (TCC), established by AB 2722 (Burke, 2016), invests in community-led climate resilience projects in the state’s most overburdened communities. The program objectives are to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve public health and the environment, and support economic opportunity and shared prosperity. TCC’s unique, place-based strategy for reducing greenhouse gas emissions is designed to catalyze collective impact through a combination of community-driven climate projects in a single neighborhood. The Project Development Grants support disadvantaged communities by funding pre-development and basic infrastructure activities that advance the communities’ climate and community resilience goals and prepare them for future funding opportunities aligned with the TCC Program Objectives. Project Development Grants should respond to previous community planning efforts that identified priority projects and need additional project development and basic infrastructure support funding to get ready for future resilience funding. SGC developed this pilot grant type in Round 5 TCC in response to the expressed support gap between Planning and Implementation Grant funding and to meet communities where they are in their climate resilience efforts, and will continue it into Round 6. Disadvantaged Unincorporated Communities (DUCs), Tribal Communities, Planning Grant Grantees, and Previous Implementation Grant Applicants will be prioritized for Project Development Grants, with DUCs given the most priority. TCC Implementation Grants and Planning Grants support holistic neighborhood proposals and planning activities, respectively, to advance community-led goals and projects. Please see separate Grants Portal entries for information on Planning Grants and Implementation Grants. A wide variety of activities and costs can be funded through the grant. Please see the Round 6 Guidelines for a list of example eligible activities. Multiple Co-Applicants are required. A diverse range of community, business and local government stakeholders must form a Collaborative Governance Structure to develop a shared vision of transformation for their community. Applicants must include community engagement activities and address climate resilience through the proposal. Applicants may also address other transformative elements such as displacement avoidance and workforce development, if applicable. Applicants from Tribal Communities, Tribally-owned non-profits, and with Project Areas in Disadvantaged Unincorporated Communities are prioritized for Application Technical Assistance. July 31, 2026, is the priority deadline to request Application Technical Assistance via the TA Application Request Form. Application TA services may be available to additional applicants depending on funding availability and TA provider capacity, after the July 31st deadline.