After participating in a series of peer-led workshops, 68 farmers across Southeast Michigan, representing 15% of the farmland in the Western Lake Erie watershed, committed to practices that would prevent pollutants such as phosphorous and nitrogen from running off into the lake. Each farmer learned how to improve crop yields and soil health while reducing...
Every day, residents, city leaders, nonprofits, and the business community are innovating green stormwater infrastructure solutions to prevent untreated sewage discharge. Video Credit: Oren Goldenberg, Cass Corridor Films. This video was commissioned in partnership with the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department.
The Foundation is pleased to welcome Lawrence Garcia and Rhonda Welburn to our board! A graduate of the U-M Law School and Duke University, Lawrence Garcia founded his own law firm, the Garcia Law Group, to fulfill his personal mission of creating Michigan’s first Latino law firm. He is the president of the Cesar Chavez Academy and...
$5.5 million in new and continuing grants were approved at our September 13 board meeting. Nearly half of the grants were awarded to arts organizations, underscoring the Foundation’s commitment to a culturally vibrant City of Detroit, where the arts contribute to a sustainable region by fostering economic, social, and creative well-being. These grants include: A...
This image was taken on a recent boat tour where the Foundation joined farmers and public officials to see Lake Erie’s infamous algae bloom up close and better understand what causes it. Toxic algae continues to harm Lake Erie, impeding fishing, diminishing property values, and threatening Lake Erie’s multi-billion dollar tourism industries. Water treatment plants are...
Video by Cass Corridor Films. This video served as the opener for the Great Lakes/St. Lawrence Green Infrastructure Conference, held in Detroit from May 31 – June 2, 2017. Commissioned in partnership by the Fred A. and Barbara M. Erb Family Foundation and the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department, it highlights and celebrates the collaborative...
Foundation staff joined more than 20 volunteers to plant a rain garden at the Urban Country Tea House in Detroit’s Brightmoor neighborhood on September 9. A joint program of the Sierra Club, Friends of The Rouge and Keep Growing Detroit, Rain Gardens To The Rescue helps Detroiters design, plant and maintain rain gardens to manage...
A video that the Foundation co-commissioned with DWSD as an opener for the May 31, 2017 Great Lakes/St. Lawrence Green Infrastructure Conference held in Detroit has been selected as one of 10 semi-finalists for the 2017 Water Environment Federation StormTV awards. The Foundation’s Rain Gardens To The Rescue video also was selected. The videos will be shown at the WEF Stormwater...
The grants will: Incorporate green stormwater infrastructure into 1.6 miles of new bike lanes in Capitol Park; bring together a cohort of environmental organizations to augment the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department’s restructured drainage charge program through improved communications and resident support; initiate planning for an artful and collaborative stormwater management demonstration site between the...