Washington Climate Corps grants will help a Spokane community garden and a train repair shop in Pend Oreille County

When former Washington Gov. Jay Inslee signed the Climate Commitment Act in 2021, it was a major step to set the state on a path to achieve the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 95% by 2050. The act took effect in 2023, requiring businesses that emit the most pollution to reduce their emissions over the years through a Cap-and-Invest Program. 

At quarterly auctions held by the state Department of Ecology, businesses have to purchase allowances for their carbon emissions, and the number of allowances will slowly decrease to make sure the state achieves its mid-century goal through actual emissions reductions at facilities. 

“Depending on the price in the carbon market at the time, the money that is raised from that then goes into the state’s Climate Commitment account, which then disperses funds to a number of different projects across the state,” says Matt Glazewski, the director of the Washington Climate Corps Network, or WCCN. 

In 2023, the WCCN was one of the programs created and entirely funded by the Climate Commitment Act. The small organization received its first funding in June 2023, and awards grants to nonprofit organizations, municipalities and schools for climate service projects. 

“This is intended to both help the community solve its own problems, but also at the same time help give folks from those communities an opportunity to gain a skill or credential that they wouldn’t have otherwise that is going to sort of set them on a pipeline toward some kind of climate career,” Glazewski says. 

For the grant application process, organizations first submit a letter of intent to make sure their project aligns with WCCN’s mission and funding rules. Then, WCCN invites the organization to apply for the grant. 

The Port of Pend Oreille and Vets on the Farm are two regional organizations awarded WCCN funding to use through June 2026 and June 2027, respectively, for climate resiliency projects. 

TRAINING FOR TRAINS

When Glazewski and a colleague were touring Eastern Washington two years ago, a community member overheard their work-related conversation in a Metaline Falls grocery store. She told them about the Port of Pend Oreille’s efforts to retrofit clean diesel engines into old locomotives from across the country. 

The closure of regional cement plants and lumber and paper mills throughout the end of the 20th century made the railroad lines north of Usk unprofitable, with no resources to transport. The Port pivoted, finding job and revenue opportunities in its repair shop. 

Working mostly on locomotives built in the 1950s to 1970s, the shop does all sorts of repairs, from smaller paint jobs to replacing old, coal rolling engines with more fuel efficient Tier 3 and Tier 4 diesel engine systems. One of the only such repair shops on the West Coast, the demand is high and the team is booked out for years, with repairs taking anywhere from three to six months for a single locomotive.

The Port was first awarded a $174,000 grant in December 2024, and after applying again received another $200,000 grant from WCCN in 2025. Each grant allowed them to hire two people. The new workers are learning the ins and outs of locomotive repair with a focus on clean diesel technology, or focusing on diesel mechanics, track maintenance and conductor training. 

“These positions offer more than just jobs — they provide our local workforce with transferable skills that can lead to long-term careers in transportation, mechanical engineering and clean energy sectors,” Kelly Driver, executive director of the Port of Pend Oreille, said in a news release. 

VETS AND GARDEN HELP

On the outreach trip two years ago, Glazewski also stopped by Spokane-based Vets on the Farm.

“We saw that their operation was a good candidate because the program prioritizes people from overburdened communities,” Glazewski says. 

The nonprofit teaches veterans skills for careers in the agriculture and conservation industries. 

Vets on the Farm was awarded a $175,000 climate corps grant after applying last year. The agricultural nonprofit plans to direct a portion of the funds to partnerships with other local organizations, like Northeast Youth and Family Services, which has built a community garden at its second location at 1831 E. Mission Ave. 

“It used to be an old gas station, and we saved it from being another liquor store,” says Francheska Moseanko, executive director of Northeast Youth and Family Services. “So we’ve got a long-term lease on that space and the lot behind it, our community garden, which we use to feed the Chief Garry neighborhood and the adjoining neighborhoods as well.”

Vets on the Farm donated vegetable starters to the garden years ago, “and we just kind of stayed in touch,” Moseanko says.

A city girl at heart, Moseanko has had to learn everything about gardening from scratch. Alongside 10 raised garden beds, Northeast Youth and Family Services built a greenhouse on the property, which Vets on the Farm will help with. 

“So this partnership with Vets on the Farm will also include just like hands and help, steady hands and steady help that actually knows what’s going on,” Moseanko says. “They mentioned this is like a two-year thing for them. That’s huge. That’s two growing seasons, and that establishes a really great precedent for that space.” 

Located in a food desert, Moseanko envisions that once the old gas station is converted into a food pantry and teaching kitchen by 2027, kids and families will be able to access free, fresh produce from the space. 

“We don’t normally release the detailed breakdown of the grant, but what I can say is the grant will support youth engagement, programming and climate smart agriculture training, community partnership, and veteran workforce development,” says Jessica Brown, WCCN’s grant lead architect for Vets on the Farm. 

“We see this project as planting seeds, literally and figuratively,” Brown adds. “The opportunities we’ll be creating for the veterans and the youth, and the deeper connection we’re going to form in the community will grow into a long-term impact for Spokane.”