Five for Friday: September 26, 2025

Five for Friday: Grant Opportunities and More!

Curated by: The Western Nevada Development District
This edition of Five for Friday highlights funding opportunities to strengthen waste management infrastructure in Tribal communities, support resident-led planning in small towns, and invest in local nonprofits advancing housing, workforce, and arts initiatives. With upcoming program meetings on the 20th and a Spotlight Series for members focused on small business, plus resources ranging from federal recycling grants to community engagement models and philanthropic partnerships, these opportunities are designed to help communities build resilience, foster innovation, and thrive.
Grant Opportunities & More

Solid Waste Infrastructure for Recycling Grants for Tribes and Intertribal Consortia

The EPA’s Solid Waste Infrastructure for Recycling (SWIFR) grant program will assist local waste management authorities by supporting improvements to local post-consumer materials management, including municipal recycling programs, and assisting local waste management authorities in making improvements to local waste management systems.

Projects funded through the funding opportunity will:

  • Implement the building of a circular economy for all strategy series.
  • Improve local post-consumer materials management programs, including municipal recycling.
  • Make improvements to local waste management systems.
Applications may include (but are not limited to) projects that fund:
  • Development or updates to plans focused on improving post-consumer materials management
  • Planning and construction of facilities for food and organics recovery, reuse, recycling, composting or anaerobic digestion (compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act will be required for construction projects);
  • Programs that provide or increase access to prevention, reuse, and recycling in areas that currently do not have access; including construction of and/or upgrades to drop-off and transfer stations (including but not limited to a hub-and-spoke model in rural communities), etc.
  • Purchase of collection or storage bins for recyclables or organic material.

Tribes and tribal consortia are eligible for this grant tranche. The minimum individual award floor is $100,000, and the maximum individual award ceiling is $1,500,000 for the grant period. Awards funded under this opportunity may have up to a three-year project period.

Application deadline is Dec. 12, 2025

More Information

Community Planning Grants with Heart & Soul

The Community Heart & Soul Seed Grant Program provides $10,000 in funding for resident- driven groups in small cities and towns to start the Community Heart & Soul model.

Community Heart & Soul is a resident-driven process that engages the entire population of a town in identifying what they love most about their community, what future they want for it, and how to achieve it.

When adopted by foundations and philanthropic organizations, Community Heart & Soul delivers meaningful, transformational change in small cities and towns while fostering deeper relationships between organizations and the communities they serve.

Grant funding requires a $10,000 cash match from the participating municipality or a partnering organization. Designed for small cities and towns (populations under 30,000 There are three main types of eligible applicant organizations: 1) local government; 2) 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations considered a “public charity” by the IRS; 3) informal resident-led groups. Local governments can include town, city or county government agencies, or Tribes that are Federally recognized as provided under the Federally Recognized Indian Tribe Act of 1994.

Find out how to fund your planning and citizen engagement programs below.

More Information

US Bank: Community Possible Grant Program

The U.S. Bank Foundation supports communities through work, home and play grants. Grants focus on collaborative and sustainable, high-impact funding with 501(c)(3) nonprofit partners. US Bank partners with organizations that support:

  • Economic and workforce advancement
  • Safe and affordable housing
  • Community arts and culture
Funding types:
  • Operating Grants to cover an organization’s day-to-day, ongoing expenses, such as salaries, utilities, office supplies, etc.
  • Program / Project Grants are given to support a specific, connected set of activities, with a beginning and end, explicit objectives and a predetermined cost.
  • Capital Grants are part of an organized drive to collect and accumulate substantial funds to finance fixed assets.
For More Information and Application
October 20, 2025 Program Meeting 

The Board of Directors will meet on October 20, 2025, at the Tahoe Prosperity Center in Incline Village, with a catered lunch provided. Be sure to keep an eye out for an email to RSVP!

Our Website
Spotlight Series
The Marzen House Museum

“In collaboration with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the State Museum, we serve as a primary resource for the public to learn about the history of the Lovelock Paiute Tribe and Lovelock Cave.

Each spring, we host the annual Lovelock Cave Days, where approximately 400 Fourth Graders from schools as far away as McDermitt visit Lovelock Cave and the Museum. Additionally, we will be holding a yearly ice cream social in partnership with the Jesse Lee Reno Chapter of E Clampus Vitus.

Within the next two months, we will have the Grand Opening of our new Mercantile, Apothecary, and Mineral display. We are also planning to schedule kid-friendly daytime ghost tours to introduce children to the spirits in the museum while providing them with the history associated with those spirits.

Lastly, we are preparing our side yard for the installation of five more buildings to expand our village, ‘Marzenville.'”

– The Marzen House Museum

The Marzen House Musuem