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Love Your Block
2023-2024 Love Your Block Program
The City of Albany is in the second year of offering Love Your Block grants through Cities of Service and Johns Hopkins University with funding from Bloomberg Philanthropies. Started in 2009, Love Your Block has been implemented in various cities across the country, from Phoenix, Arizona to El Paso, Texas to Birmingham, Alabama and Salt Lake City, Utah. We are thrilled to have Albany, New York as another city to benefit from this program in both 2022 and 2023.
Past projects in other cities have included neighborhood clean ups, installing more park benches and street lighting, starting community gardens in vacant lots, and painting murals. Here in Albany, as a part of Love Your Block, we will be focusing our efforts on addressing blight along with making minor repairs to front porches and stoops alongside initiatives that benefit the larger community.
Mission
This $20,000 grant aims to combat problems surrounding urban blight, foster neighborhood revitalization, and spur positive community driven change one block at a time. The Love Your Block Program is specifically targeting neighborhoods that have been previously redlined, such as:
- West Hill
- Arbor Hill,
- North Albany
- The South End
With some inclusion in other areas of Albany that have been affected by blight, lack of resources, crime, and abandoned buildings, vacant lots, and high levels of poverty, such as:
- Beverwyck
- Mt. Hope
- Park South
- Sheridan Hollow
- Delaware Avenue
- Second Avenue
Mini-Grants
We will be awarding mini-grants of $500 – $2,000 dollars to organizations and neighborhood groups that:
- Are within Albany City limits, in the above neighborhoods
- Will implement their proposed project by the end of October 2023
- Provide a detailed budget of expenses
- Demonstrate how the group or proposed idea will fight blight, reduce poverty, create more community connections, and provide necessary resources
- Include proof of commitment to program goals with references from fellow community members
Volunteers
Love Your Block wants to empower citizens to take an active role in spurring positive changes in their community by assisting with mini-grants program implementation. We are currently looking for potential volunteers for Love Your Block projects for the summer, and fall months. Some of our initiatives for volunteers will include, but are not limited to, community-wide clean-ups, planting trees, painting, and handing out essential resources.
If you are interested in volunteering on one or more days in your neighborhood, please fill out our Volunteer Registration form linked below or stop by our office located at 200 Henry Johnson Blvd 12210. We will be posting the schedule for volunteer days and times in the coming months. Please contact our Love Your Block Fellow, Erin Johanns with any specific questions.
The Love Your Block Program values your feedback. Please share your thoughts on important issues within our community. Access the Love Your Block Volunteer Registration here.