Six Hudson Valley Towns Complete Year One of Funding Futures, Launch Phase Two

Community-driven democracy initiative moves from listening to building, with local ideas advancing toward funded projects

The Understory, a Hudson Valley nonprofit building ecological and social resilience, has completed Phase 1 of Funding Futures, a participatory democracy initiative that awarded six applicants as community fellows in six Hudson Valley towns to lead year-long listening campaigns and community ballots. The organization is now launching Phase 2, known as Gameplan, in which the ideas generated by each community will be developed into real, fundable projects.

Funding Futures was designed by Paige Ruane and Vanessa Bertozzi as a way to root civic participation in place — testing whether communities that care for where they live can also decide, together, what that place needs next.

Over the past year, fellows in Chatham, Philmont/Claverack, Millbrook/Washington, Rochester, Woodbury, and Highlands ran listening campaigns door to door and at local gathering spaces — fire halls, community centers, public parks — asking residents what their towns needed most. Each town then held a community ballot, allowing residents to vote directly on the ideas that emerged.

Vanessa Bertozzi commented on the program, saying, "We've come to see that grassroots civic engagement is fundamental to all the work we do around the Hudson Valley. If we can't talk to each other and make decisions together, we're not going to get very far."

Phase 2: Gameplan

With Phase 1 complete, Funding Futures is entering Gameplan, the second phase of the initiative. During this phase, ideas from each town's community ballot will be developed into concrete, fundable project plans, with support from The Understory.

"We're excited to see what projects emerge,” Paige Ruane added. “We hope people who wouldn't otherwise have collaborated are now working together — and that these ideas can eventually become self-sufficient in how they're funded."

Gameplan is open only to ideas that emerged from each town's Phase 1 process. Residents who participated in a listening session or cast a ballot in their town were encouraged to share their contact information and express interest in volunteering, and they have been contacted directly by their local fellow with information on next steps. Letters of intent for Gameplan projects are due September 15, 2026.

Funding Futures is part of The Understory's broader work supporting ecological and social resilience across the Hudson Valley.