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Sandy Williams Connecting Communities Grant Program
The Sandy Williams Connecting Communities Grant Program (SWCCP) was established to improve active transportation connectivity for people walking, biking, and rolling along and across current and former state highways. The program is centered on High Equity Needs communities, working in systemically oppressed and marginalized communities that have largely been left out of traditional planning processes.
Photo of Sandy Williams, photographed July 7th, 2022 at the Carl Maxey Center in Spokane. (Young Kwak/ Crosscut)
The program name honors Sandy Williams, a community activist who worked to reconnect her African American neighborhood after the construction of Interstate 90 through Spokane split the city in half.
Program Priorities
Investing in people. The infrastructure we plan and construct puts people and place in the center.
We support transformative projects that look beyond transportation, considering impacts on communities such as gentrification, climate change, and resilience.
Projects that contribute to improving the safety, comfort, and connectivity for community members to access community spaces and essential services such as recreation centers, medical centers, grocery stores, schools, transit, and parks.
Partnerships between government agencies, community-based organizations, and diverse small businesses representative of high-equity needs communities are prioritized.
Integrating racial equity considerations more fully into investment priorities. Starting and focusing on engagement for community-led project designs will create projects aligned with community priorities, and build community trust and support at every step of a project’s development process.
Funds for projects supporting high equity needs communities can be used for planning, design, or construction, and can be used as a match for a federal grant award. Awards range from approximately $200,000 to $2,000,000. A total of $13 million is available for projects statewide. No matching funds are required.
Questions about this grant program? We have two opportunities for general questions October 23rd from 8:30-9:30 am and October 24th from 10-11 am. Sign up for October 23rd or Sign up for October 24th
Project Idea support
The grant is focused on the geographic representation of communities with high-equity needs statewide. To support communities with varying degrees of access to resources to obtain grants, we will offer consultations with those interested to answer any questions and provide support in refining a project. We will also host information sessions to answer any questions that potential applicants may have.
30 minute appointments for the week of October 14th- 18th if you have questions related to legacy facilities
30 minute appointments for the week of October 21st-25th if you have questions related to state highway facilities
The Sandy Williams Connecting Communities Grant Program is supported with funding from Washington’s Climate Commitment Act. The CCA supports Washington’s climate action efforts by putting cap-and-invest dollars to work reducing climate pollution, creating jobs, and improving public health. Information about the CCA is available at www.climate.wa.gov
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