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Love Your Block
2022-2023 Love Your Block Program
The City of Albany has recently been awarded the Love Your Block grant 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 – $1,500 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 2022
- 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
LYB 3 -1Love Your Block wants to empower citizens to take direct action to make changes in their community through our mini-grants program, directly voicing their concerns, and taking initiative to give back and volunteer. We are currently looking for potential volunteers for Love Your Block projects for the spring, 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 the form below or download the form here and contact our Love Your Block Fellow, Erin Johanns. We will be posting the schedule for volunteer days and times in the coming months.
The Love Your Block Program values your feedback. Please share your thoughts on important issues within our community. Access the Love Your Block Volunteer Application here.