Join Us in Community Partnership!#
Our Climate Future (OCF) is about working together and sharing leadership! The programs below aim to build strong partnerships between the City of Fort Collins and local leaders. By investing in these programs and taking real steps to share responsibility, we can all make a difference in tackling climate change.
Climate Equity Committee
The Climate Equity Committee (CEC) is a group of community members who help make sure that projects and programs are fair and just. They guide these projects as they are being created and carried out to ensure they have equitable processes and results.
Innovate Fort Collins Challenge
The Innovate Fort Collins Challenge (IFCC) is a small grant program offered through Environmental Services with a focus on equity-centered, community-led solutions for those most affected by housing affordability, climate change and weather-related challenges. The goal of the program is to partner with impacted community groups and households to improve their resilience to these issues.
Community Leadership Grants
Community Leadership Grants (CLG) program modest funding ($2,000-$10,000) for groups, organizations, and businesses looking to build capacity for climate leadership to advance the OCF Big Moves.
Community Consultants Program
The Community Consultants program is a way for people in the community to share their knowledge and ideas on City-led projects. This helps project managers understand the community better and makes sure that projects are fair and accessible for everyone.
Right now, the Community Consultants program is on hold. Please check back later for updates!
Climate Equity Committee
The Climate Equity Committee (CEC) is a group of community members who help make sure that projects and programs are fair and just. They guide these projects as they are being created and carried out to ensure they have equitable processes and results.
Innovate Fort Collins Challenge
The Innovate Fort Collins Challenge (IFCC) is a small grant program offered through Environmental Services with a focus on equity-centered, community-led solutions for those most affected by housing affordability, climate change and weather-related challenges. The goal of the program is to partner with impacted community groups and households to improve their resilience to these issues.
Community Leadership Grants
Community Leadership Grants (CLG) program modest funding ($2,000-$10,000) for groups, organizations, and businesses looking to build capacity for climate leadership to advance the OCF Big Moves.
Community Consultants Program
The Community Consultants program is a way for people in the community to share their knowledge and ideas on City-led projects. This helps project managers understand the community better and makes sure that projects are fair and accessible for everyone.
Right now, the Community Consultants program is on hold. Please check back later for updates!
2024-2025 Community Leadership Grants#
The OCF Community Leadership Grants (CLG) program offers flexible and low barrier funding, ranging from $2,000 to $10,000. This money is available for groups, organizations, and businesses that want to help advance the Our Climate Future (OCF) Big Moves.
We are excited to announce that five organizations were funded through the 2024-2025 Community Leadership Grants program. All projects demonstrate a commitment to climate equity and advance multiple OCF Big Moves, including Big Move 1: Shared Leadership and Community Partnership. See below for funded projects.
The Vegetable Connection#
The Vegetable Connection was awarded $9,987.00 to support local farms and provide locally grown produce to low-income families through subsidized Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) shares. Existing programming that advances nutritional and food-preservation education will also be expanded, and a Spanish-speaking community liaison will be funded to enable more inclusive participation.
La Familia/The Family Center#
La Familia / The Family Center was awarded $7,964 to launch a Youth Climate Action Program, a hands-on learning experience for a cohort of eight local high school students. Students will learn about sustainable food systems, climate change and how gardening can help reduce climate impacts through a series of workshops in La Familia / The Family Center's community garden.
Sustainable Living Association#
The Sustainable Living Association was awarded $7,400 to expand youth climate education and leadership programs. This includes the co-creation of the Youth Climate Leadership Summit and a year-round Youth Climate Action Series. These initiatives will provide more opportunities for Fort Collins youth to participate in climate learning and action.
Northern Colorado Foodshed Project#
Northern Colorado Foodshed Project was awarded $7,290 to enhance organizational capacity that is needed to launch a mobile food van. This new service will expand access to locally grown, affordable produce to low-income families while supporting local farmers and vendors in Fort Collins. The mobile service will accept SNAP/WIC and improve food access by relieving transportation and other barriers that exist to purchasing local food.
FoCo TrashMob#
FoCo TrashMob was awarded $2,510.00 to enable participation in local climate action and sustainability focused events. Increased participation will expand recycling outreach and education to the Fort Collins community. Funding will also provide Spanish translation for educational materials to increase inclusive opportunity and participation.
Innovate Fort Collins Challenge#
The Innovate Fort Collins Challenge (IFCC) is a small grant program offered through Environmental Services with a focus on equity-centered, community-led solutions for those most affected by housing affordability, climate change and weather-related challenges. The goal of the program is to partner with impacted community groups and households to improve their resilience to these issues.
2023-2024 grant awards funded efficiency and air quality related improvements in homes and non-profits' buildings in Fort Collins.
View the tabs below to learn more about the program's history and recent grant awards.
2024 Funded Projects#
In 2024, $90,000 was awarded to 23 projects for mobile home and rental property upgrades to improve the health, safety, comfort and efficiency of homes in Fort Collins. This round of projects was administered in partnership with Neighborhood Services mini-grant program.
2023 Funded Projects#
Yenny and Alfred are relatives who collaborated to replace broken windows and a front door in their homes. This resulted in a decrease in their cooling costs, increased safety, comfort and peace of mind.
In 2023, eight IFCC projects totaling $52,000 were funded including:
- Window screen replacements at four mobile home communities, coordinated by the La Familia/The Family Center organization
- Window and front door replacements at two households in Nueva Vida mobile home community
- Sewer line replacement and repair at Nueva Vida mobile home community and Samaritan House, a local shelter operated by Catholic Charities
- Roof replacements for two collaborating households at a local mobile home community
History#
In 2018/2019 The Innovate Fort Collins Challenge (IFCC) was a City-funded grant program that included an application process, public pitch night, competition with community judges, project implementation and follow up reporting. The program hosted three competitive rounds administering $400,000 to 17 pilot projects that benefited and advanced the 2015 Climate Action Plan (CAP) goals and community partnerships. Projects primarily focused on energy, transportation, waste reduction and behavior change.
In 2023 IFCC shifted focus to center equity and climate resilience in the program. The issues surrounding housing affordability and climate change rose as a community concern, so IFCC sought to fund solutions. The community projects that IFCC has funded advance Our Climate Future’s Big Move 3: Climate Resilient Community and Big Move 7: Healthy, Affordable Housing by improving the efficiency, safety and comfort of Fort Collins homes and community centers.