WHO WE ARE
For the past three decades, the East Coast Greenway Alliance has been at the forefront of the movement to provide accessible, connected trails and greenways where people live, work and play. Working collaboratively, we have attracted $2 billion in investment to build out more than 1,000 miles of East Coast Greenway. At this infrastructure moment, we are poised to leverage our experience and expertise to help communities from Maine to Florida, and beyond, navigate these once-in-a-generation federal infrastructure investment programs to complete their regional trail and greenway systems.
Greenways for All will be powered by community organizing and collaborative engagement with our municipal agency, nonprofit and community partners – and the public. This initiative is a natural follow-up of our Greenway Stimulus effort of the past two years that effectively brought together over 200 organizations throughout the country to ensure greenways and trails were included in the infrastructure legislation passed in 2021. We helped drive historic investment in equitable public space for many years to come. Now we must focus on the crucial implementation phase.
We see the potential to attract many billions of dollars in public investment that will ultimately build out thousands of miles of trails and complete the East Coast Greenway.
WHAT WE DO
We empower communities.
Greenways for All is focused on helping communities navigate the many funding programs that are either larger than before or entirely new. We will focus on underserved communities that often have less capacity to pursue such funding.
Greenways for All continues our model of community-based greenway development, which we have been successfully utilizing for more than 30 years. The East Coast Greenway Alliance’s approach to our advocacy work is a model of collaborative engagement at the grassroots level instead of a “top-down” approach. We do this through effective community organizing and collaboration with our municipal agency partners, nonprofit and community partners and the public.
Trail projects must often be “shovel ready” (through planning and design) in order to apply for construction funding, and much of our work involves assisting our partners in getting trails construction-ready. We are ready to do this on a larger scale under Greenways for All. In addition to continuing to advocate for greenways and trails, as needed, we may also provide community outreach and assist with identifying and applying for planning or construction funding.