The Community Foundation for Nantucket is pleased to announce the establishment of the Offshore Wind Community Fund, the first of its kind in the nation. Pursuant to the Good Neighbor Agreement between Vineyard Wind and the Town of Nantucket, the Maria Mitchell Association, and the Nantucket Preservation Trust, more than $2.5 million will be available initially to support community projects and initiatives related to protecting, restoring, and preserving cultural and historic resources, coastal resiliency, climate adaptation, and renewable energy. Vineyard Wind will make additional payments totaling $12 million in the next 6-8 years.
Applications for grants will be available on November 17, 2023, on the Community Foundation for Nantucket’s website, www.cfnan.org. Applications are due January 31, 2024. For the first granting cycle, the maximum award is anticipated to be $50,000 per project.
Of the initial $2.53 million payment provided by Vineyard Wind, $1.25 million is committed to projects by the Town of Nantucket and $600,000 is committed to projects by the Nantucket Preservation Trust. The remaining approximately $600,000 is available for Nantucket community grant applications from non-profits and other qualified community groups. The Town of Nantucket and Nantucket Preservation Trust will go through the same application and review process as community organizations applying for future funding from the Offshore Wind Community Fund.
The Town of Nantucket, Nantucket Preservation Trust, and the Community Foundation for Nantucket established the Offshore Wind Community Fund to hold and invest funds and to administer grants of those funds to support projects and initiatives consistent with the Fund’s purpose. A seven-member voting Advisory Committee of Nantucket community members with expertise in historic preservation, coastal resiliency, and renewable energy, including representatives from Town of Nantucket and Nantucket Preservation Trust, will review grant requests and make grant funding decisions with support from CFN. Vineyard Wind has appointed Rachel Pachter, Chief Development Officer, as their ex-officio, non-voting member.
“The Community Foundation for Nantucket is excited to bring our expertise in grant review and impact monitoring to the process to help launch projects which address climate change impacts,” said Sunny Daily, Executive Director of the Community Foundation for Nantucket.
“The Town of Nantucket is pleased to help launch the Offshore Wind Community Fund. We have consistently advocated for the need to avoid and minimize adverse effects from offshore wind developments and to mitigate adverse effects that cannot be avoided. The Fund is the first of its kind in the nation and provides a model for future offshore wind projects and for historic communities nationally. Mitigation funds administered directly by communities themselves are an important tool in helping achieve balance between large offshore energy developments and adverse effects communities will realize over the development’s lifespan,” said Libby Gibson, Town Manager of the Town of Nantucket.
“Historic preservation has long been part of what draws people to Nantucket and this fund is an opportunity to help protect Nantucket’s cultural and historic resources. We are looking forward to seeing what projects the community puts forth and watching these initiatives come to life,” said Mary Bergman, Executive Director of the Nantucket Preservation Trust.