Supporting water access and education

Water is a proud promise, a promise to the people.” — Teziah, age 15

That’s just one example of student writing from a Poetry of Water project at the Young Author’s Greenhouse — and this is just one example of a nonprofit organization that received support last year from the Louisville Water Foundation.

An overview of the many ways the Foundation helped the community in 2019 is now available in the organization’s annual report [PDF], which notes that “overall, the Foundation distributed more than $400,000 in grants last year to organizations committed to serving others.”

The Foundation Board met last week and considered several new grants for this year:

  • Louisville Grows requested $25,000 to purchase a truck to water 2,500 trees that are a part of the Green Heart Project conducted by the University of Louisville and other community partners. The project’s overarching objective is to measure health improvements of a community with an increased tree canopy. Keeping the trees planted for this project alive by regular watering is critical to the overall success of the research. To do this, Louisville Grows needs to water trees in four South Louisville neighborhoods taking part in the study. They’ve offered to brand the truck and brochures with the Louisville Water Foundation logo to provide positive exposure for the Foundation.
  • Catholic Charities requested $3,000 to expand water access at their Common Earth Gardens facility. The program teaches recent refugees how to operate successful, independent farm businesses. The program is growing and needs to add 200 feet of water line and two hydrants to their property to accommodate nine additional farm teams. This water access will allow participants to grow healthy food for their families and learn the skills to run their own small business.
  • The Salvation Army requested $17,500 for their customer assistance program for March 2020 to March 2021. In April, the Board approved an emergency request for $5,000 to fund the program until the full request could be reviewed. The program is experiencing a significant increase in requests due to the pandemic and resulting economic crisis.