CHEJ Small Grants Program
The Small Grants Program has officially relaunched. Applications are now open.
The Center for Health, Environment & Justice’s (CHEJ) Small Grants Program is for grassroots groups working on environmental health and justice issues related to the presence of “toxics” (toxic chemicals or hazardous substances) in their immediate communities. CHEJ prioritizes community-based organizations aiming to have local, state and regional impact through their own strategies and actions.
What Does this Grant Cover?
- This grant program supports:
- Grassroots community groups fighting an environmental health harm in their community.
- Grassroots community groups looking to build up their own leadership, increase capacity or provide training and education.
- Projects that help grassroots groups move toward their goals by building leadership, increasing capacity or providing training and education.
- Projects that align with CHEJ’s programs have a better chance to succeed in securing funding.
- Grassroots communities of color, low wealth, rural and urban groups are encouraged to apply. Should you be a part of a coalition, each group within the coalition may apply individually as well as the coalition itself.
- CHEJ supports a wide range of environmental health issues; however, we have a limited amount of funds that can only support a specific focus. If your organization’s work is outside of this focus, it does not mean it is less critical, it just means that it will not be considered for this grant.
Please carefully read the Guidelines and the Instructions for Submitting an Application before you apply.
What is Included and Excluded from this Grant?
Projects or activities that we are open to funding:
- Board development
- Educational activities directly connected to the strategic plan stated in your application
- Equipment and/or subscriptions for improving communications (i.e., Zoom subscriptions, internet access, laptops, etc.)
- Fundraising efforts
- General in-person events or activities
- Local or statewide group/community-specific efforts or campaigns
- Meetings/Events to develop organizing and/or strategic planning and events that are part of that plan
- Organizational membership and outreach
- Training leaders to go door-to-door for community organizing efforts
Projects or activities that we will not fund:
- Community gardens or farming
- Disaster relief and/or emergency response and planning
- Environmental testing
- Film or documentary production
- Food insecurity interventions (e.g., food banks, food donations, etc.)
- Groups with an annual budget over $700,000.
- Individuals
- Legal assistance
- Legislative lobbying or policy work
- Organizations outside of the United States and its Territories
- Market campaigns
- National organizations and/or campaigns
- Natural environmental protection or conservation efforts
How to Apply
Please review the application instructions before starting your application.
After reviewing the instructions, we strongly recommend downloading the application template for reference and preparing your responses before starting the online application form. The online application form does not allow you to save progress, so we encourage all applicants to start the online form with your submission fully prepared to complete in one sitting.
The required budget form can be downloaded here in .xlsx format.
The deadline for submitting your application is Friday, June 5th, 2026 at 11:59 PM CST.
If Assistance is Needed
If you would like to learn more about the application process, please see this video recording from our Small Grants Informational Webinar.
If you have questions about whether or not your group/project will meet the guidelines, please contact Kristy Smith – ksmith@txhea.org or Kristin Headly – kristin@txhea.org.
Thank you for your interest.