2024 PREP Grant Projects
Total Funds Awarded: $519,508.66
In 2024, a record 16 grantees were provided funds to complete environmental projects between September 2024 and December 2025. Read about each of the grantees and their projects below. Photos from the projects can be viewed on the Live Green Howard 2024 PREP Grant Projects Flickr album.
Community Ecology Institute
Project: Cultivating Climate Friendly Food Choices
A grantee since 2021, the Community Ecology Institute (CEI) will promote locally grown, plant-rich diets to achieve positive impacts for climate, health, and community resilience. The PREP grant will support experiential education about how people can grow food where they live, learn, work, and play through CEI’s Nourishing Gardens program and Freetown farm-based service-learning initiatives. CEI will also serve as a source of accessible, local, regeneratively grown food for the community, especially the food insecure, through increased collaborative partnerships and food distribution. To promote food waste reduction, CEI will offer free workshops to the community on strategies to reduce food waste and properly use Howard County’s green bin curbside compost bins.
The PREP grant supports staffing and supplies for Nourishing Gardens and food waste reduction workshops, preparation of plant-rich recipe cards and a cookbook, as well as farm and garden maintenance and food production and distribution.
Friends of Patapsco Valley State Park
Project: Patapsco Valley State Park Mobile Visitor Center
Friends of Patapsco Valley State Park will provide hands-on outreach and education opportunities within the state park and through after-school BioBlitz programs at 13 elementary schools within the Howard County Public School System. The BioBlitz program provides students with a basic scientific introduction to the concept of biodiversity. Friends of Patapsco Valley State Park returns as a PREP 2024 grantee after participating in PREP projects in the first two years of the grant program.
The PREP grant supports staffing for the Mobile Visitor Center and materials for the BioBlitz program.
Howard County Chinese school
Project: Youth Plastic Reduction & Environmental Protection Program
Howard County Chinese School (HCCS) returns for its third year as a PREP grant recipient with a project focused on reducing single-use plastics and enhancing environmental education. The school will maintain two gardens tended by youth volunteers in Columbia and Highland, with resulting produce donated to community organizations with hunger relief programs. Students will work to construct and donate five rainwater irrigation systems to Howard County residents. The school will conduct quarterly litter cleanups and continue their plastic reduction campaign to educate the public about the environmental impact of plastic bags.
The PREP grant supports staffing for parent program coordinators, communications and marketing costs, office supplies, gardening and rainwater irrigation project materials, travel and overhead.
Howard County Conservancy
Project: Hands-on Climate Education for Howard County Secondary Students
In its fourth year as a PREP grantee, the Howard County Conservancy is offering hands-on climate education opportunities for middle and high school students in the Howard County Public School System via four Conservancy programs: Climate kNOWledge, Climate STEPS, the Watershed Report Card, and the Youth Climate Institute.
Climate kNOWledge will provide 12 climate science lessons and a culminating field for 4,000 6th grade students. Ninth grade students will be the audience of the Watershed Report Card – now it its 11th year – and a new pilot program called Climate Sustainability Through Empowered and Proactive Solutions (Climate STEPS), a program that will include student-driven action projects, professional development for teachers, and field trips.
The PREP grant will support the Youth Climate Institute’s continued expansion to at least 10 Howard-County-based chapters providing foundational climate training and participation in civic action for at least 130 high school students.
The PREP grant supports staffing to implement and oversee educational programs, honorariums for speakers, scholarships for Youth Climate Institute students, and materials and supplies for the four programs.
Howard Ecoworks
Project: Nature-based Solutions for Climate Resilience in Vulnerable Communities
Howard EcoWorks will implement environmental restoration activities that enhance ecosystem services, support habitat connectivity for pollinators and wildlife, and build climate and community resilience while building partnerships with vulnerable communities in Howard County.
Supporting 10 green jobs and engaging community volunteers, the project includes the planting of 350 trees and understory species; the installation of 500 square feet of native gardens, meadows and vernal pools; stream enhancement; native seed collection and propagation; and the management of one acre of forest.
Howard EcoWorks has been a PREP grant recipient annually since the inception of the program in 2021.
The PREP grant supports staffing for project implementation and oversight, landscaping materials and supplies, landscape design and technical support, travel, and workshops on maintenance strategies for community partners.
InTerfaith partners for the Chesapeake
Project: Strengthening Watershed Protection Partnerships
Interfaith Partners for the Chesapeake (IPC) returns to the PREP program for a second year and will focus the 2024 grant term on engaging members of Howard County’s Nonprofit Watershed Protection Partnership in climate and environmental action by helping to develop a climate action plan template as part of a pilot program. IPC will offer one-one-one coaching sessions with five to ten Howard County congregations to provide educational resources and tools to address waste reduction and energy conservation. IPC will also host a Learning Lab featuring climate expert Katharine Hayhoe and, following the presentation, engage congregations in a “hub gathering” to review climate action opportunities in Howard County.
The PREP grant supports keynote speaker fees, printing costs, travel, and staffing for alternative compliance template development, event planning and execution, one-on-one coaching session, and outreach.
Interfaith Power & Light
Project: Helping Howard County Congregations Save Energy and Shift to Clean Power
Interfaith Power and Light (IPL) is a first-time PREP grantee in 2024. IPL will engage with faith communities in Howard County to effectively reduce and avoid greenhouse gas emissions by enabling congregational facility energy assessments, clean energy upgrades, and deployment of congregational solar projects.
Utilizing established and new relationships with Howard County congregations, IPL will support energy upgrades and solar projects and provide energy and climate education to congregation members.
The PREP grant supports staffing for a clean energy shepherd position and outreach, as well as overhead and program supplies.
Murray Hill Homeowners Association, Inc
Project: Murray Hill 2024 Community Cleanliness Project
Murray Hill Homeowners Association returns for its fourth year as a PREP grantee. For the 2024 grant term, the HOA is working to reduce neighborhood litter and promote community cleanliness. To reduce the number of exposed trash bags at the curb, the community will purchase 50 sturdy, lidded trashcans to provide for community member use. Murray Hill HOA will host two community volunteer cleanups events during the year and provide a paid stipend to neighborhood youth for weekly litter cleanup and emptying of community-shared trash cans.
The PREP grant supports the purchase of sturdy, lidded trashcans for 50 homes in the community and labor and supplies for weekly neighborhood litter collection and community trash can emptying.
Oakland Mills Interfaith
Project: The Greening of Oakland Mills Interfaith Inc. 2024
Oakland Mills Interfaith (OMI) is a five-congregation interdenominational house of worship in Columbia. OMI has a progressive greening program, including environmental education, waste minimization, rain gardens, and other stormwater management practices. OMI will continue its efforts to provide environmental education and engagement for congregants and community members in these areas during its third year as a PREP grantee. The grant will support composting activities and education, distribution of reusable shopping bags, additional stormwater management, an environmental fair, and continued teaching of environmentally conscious practices, including workshops for using rain barrels.
The PREP grant supports composting supplies and fees, reusable bags for giveaways, plants/trees, landscaping materials and tools, signage, instructional materials, event supplies, and outreach.
Patapsco Heritage Greenway
Project: Water Quality Monitoring and Education in the Patapsco Watershed
A PREP grant recipient since 2021, Patapsco Heritage Greenway (PHG) continues to monitor water quality twice monthly at 11 sites in the non-tidal Patapsco River watershed area from Woodbine to Elkridge. For 2024, PHG will explore the addition of a 12th monitoring site at a tributary of Deep Run in Jessup, where clean-ups and invasive plant removals have been conducted.
Data is entered into a comprehensive online database and publicly available. Because data adhere to the strict quality control standards of the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay, Maryland Department of the Environment uses PHG data for biannual reporting to the federal government on the status of local waterways as per the Clean Water Act. Discussion of trends and observations is worked into formal and informal public water quality presentations given by PHG staff all over the region.
The PREP grant supports a program coordinator and assistant, as well as water quality monitoring supplies.
Residences at Vantage Point
Project: Reusable Meal Containers
Residences at Vantage Point, a nonprofit retirement community for adults ages 60 and older in Columbia, is a first-time PREP grantee for 2024. During routine operations of the retirement community, residents utilize approximately 90 takeaway containers per day throughout the community’s dining venues. Residences at Vantage Point will purchase plastic reusable containers to decrease the community’s environmental footprint associated with takeaway dining and avoid the use of single-use plastics.
The PREP grant funds the purchase of Eco-Containers to-go containers in three styles: three compartment to-go boxes, soup containers, and square to-go boxes.
Resurrection St. Paul School
Project: Pollinator Walk and Garden
A first-time PREP grantee, Resurrection St. Paul School will partner with its Green Thumbs Committee, Church of the Resurrection Sustainability Committee, and Howard EcoWorks to install a 2,500 square foot pollinator walk and garden on the school’s 22-acre campus in Ellicott City.
The goals of the pollinator garden are to beautify the campus, increase native biodiversity, increase pollination services and biological control of pest insects, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and provide community engagement and learning opportunities for students, teachers, and parishioners.
The PREP grant supports the design and installation of a 2,500 square foot pollinator garden on school property.
Therapeutic and Recreational Riding Center
Project: Therapeutic Garden Renovation
A new PREP grantee in 2024, the Therapeutic and Recreational Riding Center (TRRC) will restore and expand an outdoor garden and learning space designed for people with special needs. TRRC will engage master gardeners and other community volunteers in the renovation, expansion, and upkeep of the therapeutic garden.
Once complete, the renovated garden will provide children and adults challenged by physical, mental, and emotional disabilities with a safe space and educational resources for learning about gardening, healthy foods, safe water, and how to recognize and respond to the challenges of climate change in their daily lives. By working in a setting designed for those with disabilities, Master Gardeners will be able to engage clients more fully in learning about how to foster healthy interconnections between people, animals, plants, and their shared environment.
The PREP grant supports equipment rentals and the purchase of materials and supplies for the installation of wheelchair-height raised garden beds, perimeter fencing, planters, and tables and benches, as well as plants for the garden.
Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Columbia
Project: Bottle-Filling Water Station at Owen Brown Interfaith Center
The Owen Brown Interfaith Center (OBIC) in Columbia is home to the Cradlerock Children’s Center, PFLAG support groups, mental health support groups, and eight congregations of diverse religious traditions who worship, pray, and celebrate under the same roof. Member congregation Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Columbia will install a bottle-filling water station to reduce single-use plastics at the OBIC. The building hosts many meetings, classes, and religious gatherings weekly, and is rented for weddings, parties, showers, and other events year-round. A bottle-filling water station at OBIC will be utilized by hundreds of people each week and will discourage the usage of single-use plastics at events hosted at OBIC.
The PREP grant supports the purchase and installation of a bottle-filling water station.
Upcycled
Project: Waste to Wonder
A PREP grant recipient since 2021, Upcycled is building on previous work to “upcycle” higher number plastics PP (#5) and HDPE (#2) into lumber and interlocking brick to make a variety of structures including benches, tables, sheds and flower beds.
Upcycled offers community collection sites for these plastics at Freetown Farm and Savage Mill. Their goal is to collect 2,000 pounds of plastic from Howard County residents and donate 1,000 pounds of upcycled lumber products to Howard County schools and community spaces. Upcycled cleans, sorts and shreds plastic into flakes, then heats and pressurizes into a lumber or brick mold.
Upcycled will continue to host environmental cleanups at various Howard County parks and trails, and will expand community outreach to educate residents about the importance of reducing the use of single-use plastics.
The PREP grant funds staffing and overhead as well as supplies and maintenance for daily operations.
VolunTeens
Project: Saving Food from the Landfill
A PREP grant recipient in 2021, VolunTeens returns for 2024 with a project to reduce food waste and support local agriculture while providing hunger relief. Volunteens will leverage partnerships with local farms and producers to purchase excess produce unsold at Howard County farmers markets to feed the local community through donations to Columbia Community Care and Roving Radish.
Produce will be collected using reused cardboard boxes to eliminate plastic packaging and transported to hunger relief partners via an electric vehicle to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The PREP grant supports the purchase of excess produce from Howard County farmers market and Howard County farms and producers as well as a scale to weigh produce.