Mission Statement

New Priorities Foundation is committed to supporting citizen-initiated efforts to create a more vibrant, diverse, and beautiful environment through hands-on experience, democracy-building, and preservation of natural areas.

SPECIAL NOTE FOR 2007-2008

As we move into our tenth year of grant making, the board of New Priorities Foundation has decided to shift the foundation's area of focus for the next two years. We believe the rapidity of global climate change makes addressing it an urgent matter. That urgency compels us to dedicate the bulk of the foundation's resources to support projects which work toward reducing negative human impact on the earth's climate or ones that help to elevate this issue to greater national prominence. This decision requires a period of study and reflection for the board, followed by development of a plan of action. Once that is accomplished funds will be disbursed in accord with the plan. We will not be accepting unsolicited grant applications during this period of time. We will post the results of our study and research as they develop.

Core Values

• emphasizing experiential learning
• celebrating community & multigenerational collaboration
• upholding social justice & equity
• respecting beauty in all its forms: love, balance, diversity,
  caring, order, simplicity, wildness

Areas of Giving

• FOLKS IN THE DIRT
  environmental education & engagement with nature
  
  Lewis and Clark High School Eco Garden:
  Funding for an 11,000 square foot "eco garden" that students designed, planted, and maintain in collaboration with elderly community members.
  
  Chase Middle School Nature Mapping Project:
  Funding for a project that teaches junior high school students to identify wildlife species and native plants and create databases mapping the rural and suburban habitats around the school and community to determine the impact of development on wildlife distribution.
  
  
• DIRT DEMOCRACY
  environmental justice & advocacy
  
  Center for Justice:
  Support for a legal advocacy project to reduce agricultural field burning that has caused respiratory health problems through Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho.
  
  Kettle Range Conservation Group:
  Support for KRCG's Wild Washington Outreach Program that educates and encourages public advocacy in support of new wilderness designations in Eastern Washington and across the state.
  
  
• STEWARDING DIRT
  land conservation & preservation
  
  Inland Northwest Land Trust:
  Support to safeguard wildlife habitats and open spaces throughout the Northwest. The Trust helped protect nearly 100,000 acres in Spokane County threatened with urbanization.
  
  Spokane Parks and Recreation Foundation Corbin and Turner Heritage Garden:
  Support to the restoration of a historic heritage garden in the heart of Spokane, including researching the history of the garden as well as rebuilding arbors, stonework, ponds, and greenhouses. The completed gardens will be open to the public and will serve as an important site for historic environmental education in the region.
  
  
• FROM DIRT TO THE DINNER TABLE
  sustainable farming practices & healthy eating
  
  Washington Food and Farming Network:
  Support for a coalition of farmers, environmental organizations, nutrition advocates, and members of the public to encourage and support family farms, ensuring long-term stewardship of the land and community, economic, and environmental well-being.
  
  Second Harvest Food Bank Community Gardens:
  Support for a network of agencies meeting the food needs of people in the Inland Northwest. The community gardens project supplies education materials for individual and neighborhood gardens in low-income areas of Spokane and will provide healthy, family-grown produce to those in need as well as going to the food bank's outreach to the wider community.
  
  
• SPIRIT OF NEW PRIORITIES
  innovative initiatives sharing our spirit that may not find funding elsewhere
  
  Trees for Your Neighborhood:
  Support for grass roots environmental activism that is growing an urban forest neighborhood "one tree at a time." The project has expanded throughout the city with a focus on low-income neighborhoods, a tree curriculum has been brought into neighborhood schools and senior volunteers serve as mentors for young tree stewards.
  
  Thin Air Radio:
  A non-corporate, non-commercial community radio project committed to progressive news, views, and music meeting the needs of underserved groups and individuals in Spokane, Washington. This alternative media source is a vital source for a better informed public.