Founded by students at Harvard University in 2011, Refresh Bolivia remains a student-run nonprofit with a goal of using the Ford College Community Challenge grant to expand its integrated health clinic in the underserved community of Cochabamba, Bolivia with an adjacent vaccine center. In partnership with the nonprofit Fundación Nuqanchik, the new vaccine center will administer 10 different vaccines, including COVID-19, and increase the local vaccination rate by 90%. Currently, vaccines must be administered within two days of delivery because of inadequate space and storage equipment. The closest alternative vaccination site is a two-hour round trip which discourages families from seeking these important medicines. Government distributors have been enlisted to provide a freezer once adequate space is available in the new vaccine center. After construction is completed, Refresh Bolivia students will continue to help manage the center’s daily operation, including staffing the clinic and documenting vaccine administration. This is the fourth Ford College Community Challenge awarded to the Refresh Bolivia team, previous grants were in 2016, 2017 and 2019.

Funding from the Ford College Community Challenge will help the Rutgers Enactus team and their nonprofit partner Bighelp for Education start a social enterprise in India to hire underprivileged or domestically abused women and people with special needs to manufacture agarbatti, incense that is used within households of all commonly practiced religions in India. Incense must be replaced once its wick and scent run out, so the product is always in demand. The agarbatti company will pay an hourly wage to all employees and sponsor their children’s education. Incentives will be offered to help employees sustain themselves and their families while working. Bighelp’s team in India will be providing outreach resources, a workforce and access to rural communities. Bighelp will also be responsible for providing free education to the children of employees. The business will employ a professional mentor to teach volunteers and guide the local workers on how to make agarbattis. The business intends to build an atmosphere that encourages learning, sustainability, and independence. By providing jobs with proper wages and financing their children’s educations, employees will be empowered to become financially independent.

Food insecurity is a serious concern in communities across the U.S. and COVID-19 only made the crisis worse. A 2018 study by The Ohio State University found that one-third of households in nearby neighborhoods self-reported food insecurity, and yet there are over 400 empty parcels of land being held by the Columbus Land Bank that could be used to grow food. Most of these neglected parcels are in the same underserved areas that report people are hungry. Funding through the Ford College Community Challenge will help the team accelerate their plans to build community gardens in underserved areas with a focus on providing healthy and accessible food to those who need it. In partnership with Columbus Community Schools, community involvement and volunteers will be encouraged to assist in the upkeep and development of the gardens to foster a sense of self-dependency and achievement. Beyond providing access to food, this project will also add decorative flora and amenities that will create areas of beauty and relaxation.

This Canfield Connect Project aims to create a safe pedestrian greenway utilizing vacant lots and alleys that will connect the East Canfield neighborhood in Detroit from nearby Brewer Playfield to Pingree Park. Ford College Community Challenge grant funding will help the students develop detailed design options for the “Canfield Connect” that would increase access to recreation space and improve walkability for people in the area, including the senior walking club. In partnership with the nonprofit Canfield Consortium, students will gather input from the community about the plan and begin work on a green community trail of low-cost lots featuring low-maintenance, flood preventing, native plants. Students will organize and manage volunteers in the installation process and develop a design guidebook that outlines strategies to be replicated by other Detroit neighborhoods.

The Ford College Community Challenge grant was awarded to students at Wayne State University, to help their vision of creating a green space in the city of Pontiac that benefits the community and the environment. The students proposed installing a Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GSI) management system that protects, restores, and mimics the natural water cycle. It also has the potential to reduce sewage costs and water bills. The project would include a bioswale, native prairie grasses and living tree architectural structure composed of more than 1,000 willow trees grafted together. Partner nonprofit Reroot Pontiac has worked with students for several years on biodiversity, often incorporating projects into biology and environmental science classes. Reroot Pontiac's role is that of landowner and project co-designer. Moreover, Reroot Environmental is an organization the provides training for students and local residents in installation and maintenance of GSI, which allows credentials from the National Green Infrastructure Certification Program. Making this certification available to the community offers potential economic benefits and will help build interest in the educational opportunities this project presents.