NYC Service and Citizens Committee for New York City (“Citizens Committee”) today announced the ninth season of the Love Your Block Grant Campaign, an annual beautification and cleanup program that provides a $1,000 cash grant along with a host of city services to neighborhood and school-based volunteer groups across the five boroughs. It is the only public-private “adopt-a-block” grant program available to New Yorkers. Since its inception in 2009, more than 270 Love Your Block awards have been granted, with over 900 City services provided and nearly 10,000 community volunteers having been engaged in beautification projects.
For the 2017 Love Your Block season, the grant application submission deadline is 11:59PM on Monday, November 7, 2016 and grant winners will be announced on November 28, 2016. The application is available for download on Citizens Committee’s website: http://www.citizensnyc.org/grants/love-your-block.
“Citizens Committee is very excited to help volunteer groups make New York City a more beautiful city, one block at a time, through the 2017 Love Your Block Grant Campaign,” said CEO Peter H. Kostmayer. “The program is now in its ninth season and that alone is a testament to its popularity among everyday New Yorkers who simply want to improve their public spaces and make this city greater. Furthermore, the change that a group of volunteers can achieve on their blocks with just a small cash grant and the help of city services is incredible. We’re thankful to NYC Service and the City of New York for partnering with us on this program.”
How the Love Your Block Grants Work
The “Love Your Block” Awards program offers support to volunteer-led community and school groups in the form of a $1,000 grant. In addition the grant recipients request and receive project planning assistance as well as “select neighborhood services” from the NYC Departments of Parks & Recreation, Transportation, Environmental Protection and Sanitation to transform a city block or group of consecutive blocks. Free services from these city agencies include trash collection on the day of the project, vacant lot cleanup, graffiti removal, dead tree removal, tree stewardship workshops, resident surveys to plant new street trees, provision of wood chip mulch for gardening projects, repair of and installation of street signs and street lights, and traffic safety surveys, and installation of bicycle racks and speed bumps. As the weather warms up in the Spring of 2017, Love Your Block grant recipients will bring neighbors together, implement their respective block beautification and cleanup initiatives in neighborhoods across the five boroughs, and begin to receive their requested services from the City agencies that participate in the program.
Love Your Block Grant Eligibility Requirements
Groups eligible to apply include but are not limited to neighborhood, block, and civic associations, school groups, and volunteer groups that are newly formed as a result of making block revitalization and transformation their number one priority. Neighborhood coalitions and resident groups that collaborate with Business Improvement Districts may also apply. All grant applicants must be based in a NYC neighborhood. The award is not available to individuals.
Love Your Block Grant Review Process
A selection committee of representatives from NYC Service, Citizens Committee and participating City agencies reviews all “Love Your Block” grant applications. Awarded projects demonstrate the ability to host a high-impact neighborhood improvement event that utilizes at least one City service and could engage at least 20 volunteers on their respective “Love Your Block” event days and block celebration days. Additional criteria used to review applications include project sustainability, the group’s capacity, neighborhood need, as well as the group’s history and knowledge of neighborhood issues.
Love Your Block Grant Application Info Sessions
Citizens Committee and NYC Service will host two information sessions for the 2017 Love Your Block Grant Campaign in Lower Manhattan on:
- October 17
- October 24
During the info sessions, the 2017 Love Your Block grant application will be reviewed step-by-step, followed by a Q&A period.
RSVP is required and space is limited. Please contact Shawn Whitehorn at swhitehorn@citizensnyc.org or (212) 822-9563 to claim your seat.
More information can be found at www.citizensnyc.org