THOMASVILLE- The Thomasville Community Development Corporation has been named the recipient of a two-year Drawdown Georgia Climate Solutions & Equity Grant of $100,000 per year.

TCDC is part of the third cohort to receive grant funding focused on climate solutions that lift people up and advance community priorities with the ultimate goal of the climate justice movement.

TCDC will apply plant-based diet and residential solar climate solutions to scale existing work in the historic Dewey City neighborhood. They will be working to decrease the energy cost burdens for residents in 52 senior apartments while improving the health outcomes of hundreds of residents in the surrounding community, which is currently designated as a “food desert.”

TCDC consultant Earl Williams elaborated on the two-part project.

“We first want to focus on a plant-based diet,” Williams said. “We will actually take the food to neighborhoods. The primary neighborhood will be Dewey City, but we received funding for 40 families, so we may go beyond Dewey City.”

Williams said in order to accomplish this goal, the TCDC will utilize the help of Rendall Mash and his Marathon Mini Market.

There, the fresh fruits and vegetables will be distributed. Additionally, local caterer Alvin Davis, who resides in Dewey City, will prepare meals that have been made from plant sources for the community members.

The grant will also focus on solar usage in the Dewey City community.

Dewey City houses the historic Douglass High School, which is currently being renovated into 52 low-income senior apartments.

The TCDC is overseeing the renovation and hopes to be at the forefront of solar usage to power the apartments in order to help with burdensome utility bills.

“We are going to use the solar panels to provide energy for all the common areas like the hallways, conference rooms, and meeting rooms to keep the rental costs down on the project for people living there,” Williams said.

Before receiving the grant, board members from Drawdown Georgia visited Williams and independent project manager Katie Chastain to learn more about the project and how it would impact more than just Dewey City, but food-based entrepreneurs as well.

“There was a panel of six family foundations who wanted to personally meet us and get to know us,” Williams said. “It was a different touch than most other grants we’ve applied for.”

To date, a total of $3.2 million has been awarded through the Drawdown Georgia Climate Solutions & Equity Grants. This year’s grants are funded by six Georgia-based family foundations: The Ray C. Anderson Foundation, The Ghanta Family Foundation, the Reilly Family Fund, The Tull Charitable Foundation, The Wilbur & Hilda Glenn Family Foundation, and one anonymous donor.

Chastain and Williams are grateful for the grant, which came at just the right time, they said.

“Earl has been walking the streets and getting to know the big players in the community,” Chastain said. “When we saw this grant come up, we already knew who was working on food and felt this would be the fit for us.”

Williams, agreed, sharing the stars all aligned for this grant, following many grassroots efforts.

“We had Rendall already working on the food desert problem with fresh fruits and vegetables, and at the same time, we had created a community garden a few blocks away,” Williams said.

Not only that but nearby Weston Park was the home of monthly Manna drops from the Thomasville Rotary Club.

“All those things coming together, it made sense that the next phase would be actual prepared meals being delivered,” Williams said.

Chastain said she hopes to conduct a pre and post-health assessment once the meals are delivered. If the post-health assessment shows the individuals receiving meals are showing improvement in their lifestyle, she would like to reapply for funding through the same grant or similar programs addressing the same issue.

“Addressing healthy food in our neighborhoods has plenty of funding available,” she said. “There is s still a lot of work to be done, whether it’s through this grant or similar ones.”

Chastain and Williams concluded by sharing their excitement to work with Drawdown Georgia on both pieces of the grant, utilizing their expertise in the field.