Teaching Traditional Building/Landscape Skills Training Project- SLBE | NPS NOIP20AC00098

Opportunity Information: Apply for NPS NOIP20AC00098

The Teaching Traditional Building/Landscape Skills Training Project - SLBE is a National Park Service (Department of the Interior) discretionary funding opportunity designed to connect at-risk and adjudicated youth to hands-on training and service-learning work at Sleeping Bear Dunes. The project is built around a partnership with Youth Works - Child and Family Services, a local nonprofit that already serves underserved and under-engaged young people in northwest Lower Michigan. By using Youth Works as the primary conduit, the park can reach participants who might not otherwise have access to conservation, preservation, or workforce development pathways, and then involve them directly in meaningful projects that support park resources.

The core purpose of the grant is workforce development through practical instruction in traditional building and cultural landscape trades. Participants, generally described as youth and young adults ages 14 to 35, would gain exposure to the park environment while learning skills tied to historic preservation, facility stewardship, and landscape management. Training and project work is expected to cover a wide range of legacy and conservation-oriented crafts, including timber framing; stone and brick masonry repair; wood window repair and glazing; blacksmithing; roofing and siding; and landscape-focused skills such as pruning, horticulture, and cultural landscape management. The program emphasizes learning by doing, with participants contributing to tangible improvements and maintenance work while building foundational employability skills and career awareness.

A key outcome the project seeks is long-term preservation of traditional trades by helping participants see these skills as realistic vocational options. The opportunity explicitly frames the training as a way to begin teaching, learning, and preserving these practices, with an eye toward future employment at Sleeping Bear Dunes, in nearby communities, or in similar jobs nationwide. In other words, the grant is not only about completing discrete park projects; it is also about cultivating future stewards and expanding career pathways for individuals who face barriers to employment and education.

Administratively, the opportunity is offered as a cooperative agreement, which typically means the National Park Service expects to be actively involved in project implementation rather than serving only as a pass-through funder. The eligible applicant pool is limited to nonprofits with IRS 501(c)(3) status (excluding institutions of higher education). The opportunity is listed under CFDA 15.931 and aligns with multiple public benefit categories, including community development, education, employment and labor training, environment, and natural resources. The funding opportunity number is NPS NOIP20AC00098, and it was created on January 13, 2020 with an original closing date of January 23, 2020. The award ceiling is $81,000, and the National Park Service anticipated making one award under this announcement.

• The Department of the Interior, National Park Service in the community development, education, employment, labor and training, environment, natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Teaching Traditional Building/Landscape Skills Training Project- SLBE" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.931.
• This funding opportunity was created on Jan 13, 2020.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jan 23, 2020. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $81,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education.

Apply for NPS NOIP20AC00098

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