I am so excited to share with you the best news ever!

In partnership with our colleagues at the Pennypack Ecological Restoration Trust (PERT), TTF has been awarded a three year grant from the William Penn Foundation through their $35 million multi-year Delaware Watershed Conservation Program. We could not be prouder to be part of this "unprecedented collaboration of leading conservation organizations who will align their work to protect land, restore streams, test innovative approaches in ecologically significant places, and monitor results over time."

Pennypack's David J. Robertson, Ph.D., ED & Brad Nyholm, Dir. of Stewardship with TTF!

TTF is part of an august group that includes the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), the Open Space Institute, and more than 40 additional national and regional organizations, including the Pennsylvania Environmental Council, Temple, Villanova, and Saint Joseph's universities, the Lower Merion Conservancy, Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association, and others.  Our funding will support staffing, monitoring, and operational projects costs to:

• implement and monitor on-the-ground projects that include green infrastructure, tree planting, and wetland construction
• provide technical assistance to our upstream municipalities, particularly Cheltenham, with their stormwater permit requirements
• provide custom smartphone technology and programs to support citizen volunteer efforts to advocate for improved water quality and support restoration projects
• provide resources and learning opportunities on financing and support for green stormwater infrastructure projects and policies.

We have applied for restoration funding through the William Penn Foundation's $7 million re-grant program administered by NFWF for stream restoration and green infrastructure projects along the headwaters of Jenkintown Creek at both the Sisters of the Order of St. Basil the Great and Abington Friends School. We are in the process of hiring a Municipal Watershed Coordinator and developing our citizen water quality recruitment and training program.

For TTF, this is truly transformative. This funding will enable us to provide the resources and support to our upstream municipal and community partners to strategically develop efforts to improve our creeks and streams through restoration and green infrastructure. It will enable us to take the lessons we have learned by being part of the Philadelphia Water Department's Green City Clean Waters program and apply these upstream. In addition, access to the skills and resources of these leading environmental and academic institutions will empower a small organization like ours to ensure quality projects, education, and monitoring as well as enabling us to serve as an incubator for effective approaches.

Please feel free to call with any questions about how you can work with us on this initiative!

Happy Earth Day!