Florida Communities Trust Program

Beach Outdoors Recreation and Natural Resources

The Florida Communities Trust (FCT) is a Florida land acquisition grant program administered by the Department of Community Affairs (DCA). Grants are awarded annually on a competitive basis to local governments and non-profit environmental organizations for community-based parks, open space and greenways. These projects must further outdoor recreation and natural resource protection needs identified in the local governments' Comprehensive Plans.

Florida Community Trust Program

DCA's Florida Community Trust program assists Florida communities in meeting their growth management challenges and protects the state's natural and cultural resources while meeting the community's recreational needs. The FCT grant program receives 22 percent of the Florida Forever (FF) funds (or 66 million dollars) per year. Counties, such as St. Johns, with a population of 75,000 or more, are required to provide a local financial match of 25 percent of the total cost of the project. However, non-profit organizations are not required to financially match their FCT grant applications, as long as they meet all the other FCT grant requirements. The maximum grant award is 6.6 million dollars per application per year.