The City of Buffalo is accepting applications for its ‘Love Your Block’ Mini-Grant Program.
Donor Name: City of Buffalo
State: New York
City: Buffalo
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 04/05/2024
Size of the Grant: $1000 to $10,000
Grant Duration: Less than 1 Year
Details:
These grants are intended to fund volunteer-led projects to promote a better quality of life, improve safety, and encourage stronger social cohesion in participating neighborhoods.
Proposed projects must fall under one of the following categories:
- Vacant Lot Activation
- This includes creating playgrounds, installing public art, and developing recreational spaces.
- Community Space Revitalization
- This includes repairs or modifications to community facilities, removing graffiti and replacing it with murals or public art, planting trees and landscaping community facilities.
- Accessibility Improvements
- This includes implementing creative lighting, replacing broken or worn-out litter bins, and creating a “tool library” where neighborhood groups can borrow tools for cleanup projects.
- Streetscape Improvements
- This includes community volunteer-led beautification projects in the identified target areas. This includes landscaping, art installations, pedestrian spaces, lighting improvements, and public safety.
Funding Information
- Grants range from $750 to $2,000.
- Projects must be completed within five months of grant.
Eligibility Criteria
Block clubs, community-based organizations, small local businesses, and schools throughout the city of Buffalo. Applicants are required to register for the City of Buffalo and Buffalo Urban Renewal Agency’s Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) classes for the year 2024 or demonstrate completion of CTED during 2023.
Those applicants that fall within one of targets areas (Braodway-Fillmore, Genesee Moselle, Delavan Grider, Masten Park, Hamlin Park, Upper West Side, and Riverside-Black Rock) will receive priority.
In order to qualify for the Love Your Block application process, each group will be asked to:
- Describe their organization’s background, histroy, and goals
- Propose a revitialization project that addresses a sepcific blight problem in their neighborhood, and identify an exact location for the porject
- Recruite 5 or more committed volunteers
- Propose a budget that does not exceed $2,000, or otherwise provide evidence of matching funds & in-kind donations
- Submit a plan that outline how the project will be maintained after the grant period
Priority will be given to applications who:
- Apply jointly with other community partners such as nonprofits, local businesses, or educational institutions
- Secure additional resources through fund matching or in-kind donations
- Show clear use of Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) principles in their project design.
For more information, visit City of Buffalo.