Last week, Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur (OH-09), ranking Member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy & Water, announced that the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), through its National Coastal Resilience Fund, has awarded The Junction Coalition a $608,000 grant to plan and implement wetland conservation and floodplain reconnection within a vital wildlife corridor in the heart of Toledo. The funding is made possible through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law which Kaptur helped to pass in 2022. The Junction Coalition is one of three organizations in Ohio to receive this grant through a highly competitive process.
“We are celebrating the Junction Coalition’s enterprising efforts to bring vital funds home to Ohio’s 9th Congressional District,” said Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur. “Working with our local partners to bring this funding home, I look forward to progress in the fight to protect the Western Basin of Lake Erie as the group identifies nature-based resiliency strategies to protect at-risk communities from flooding. With our other efforts at reconnecting neighborhoods, we are working to ensure Toledo’s central city communities restore access to clean and healthy water recreation. The Junction Coalition will build on the work of past efforts to implement meaningful improvements within our neighborhoods. This funding was made possible by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, showing once again that our communities benefit when we access resources from bi-partisan legislation that makes sense.”
“Junction Coalition is thankful for the bipartisan support and our Representative, Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur for seeing the value of not only restoring and preserving our wetlands and water resources but also the lives and well-being of families that live in and around Swan Creek. Junction Coalition is thankful to all our partners for the support in writing and implementation of this rewarding project,” said Alicia Smith, executive director of the Junction coalition. “Swan Creek, one of Toledo’s three rivers, forms part of the southern boundary of the Junction Community. The possibility of restoring a vital wildlife habitat corridor, creating a scenic greenspace for recreation and relaxation, teaching our young people the importance of protective edge vegetation—these are just a few of the environmental and community benefits presented by this grant. The City of Toledo and our community will benefit because of the several city and Metroparks found along Swan Creek as well.”
Earlier this year Congresswoman Kaptur announced other funding opportunities secured in partnership with the Junction Coalition, including a $600,000 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Child Lead Poisoning Prevention program grant award to help reduce lead poisoning in the Toledo community, and a $20 Million US Department of Transportation (USDOT) RAISE grant award to the City of Toledo to assist the city’s “Connecting Toledo Neighborhoods to Opportunity” initiative to reconnect downtown neighborhoods in Toledo and the nearby Junction neighborhood. The effort will include a protected sidewalk across the Dorr Street overpass of Interstate 75 and a new 10-foot-wide multi-use path that will extend approximately 0.75 miles from the downtown area into the Junction neighborhood.
The Junction Coalition is a non-profit, grassroots organization located in the Junction community of Toledo, Ohio providing a viable voice to its neighbors. The Junction Coalition seeks to promote healthy relationships with local, state, and federal government to build a better quality of life for community members and for business owners who benefit the Junction community.