Savannah's Grants-For-Blocks Program
The Grants-For-Blocks program has had a marked impact on organized community
life and
beautification in the city's poorest neighborhoods. The program was started
in 1993
when the city received a $20,000 grant from the Ford Foundation.
Henry Moore, Assistant City Manager, decided to ask Savannah citizens what
they thought
could be done with the money and the current program is the result. Grants of up
to $500
are awarded to neighborhood groups with improvement plans for their
neighborhoods.
Applications have grown from 89 the first year to more than 300, and is now
funded with
a yearly allocation of $70,000 from the general fund and CDBG monies.
As the applicant pool started to grow, a residents reviewing committee was
formed, with
two representatives from each neighborhood that submits a proposal. The
representatives do
not review applications from their own neighborhoods and the names, amounts
requested, and
neighborhoods are blocked out on each application when read.
This committee led to the creation of other steering committees, which meet
to discuss
aspects of community development, to the pleasure of Moore, who was aiming to
foster a
"citizen-driven government."
The projects funded by Grants-For-Blocks have shifted focus in the five years
since it
was started. While proposals are still submitted for beautification efforts,
more
applications are now received for developing programs. Taffanye Young,
Savannah's
Director of Community Services, notes that locally-run programs enjoy unheard-of
support.
For example, attempts by the community services department to hold tutoring and
literacy
workshops often fail, but similar programs initiated by residents are extremely
popular.
Charlotte Caplan, the administrator of the CDBG program, says that the
participants
understand that "the real benefit is not just in the projects themselves,
it is in
the collaboration they inspire. People get to know their neighbors, they get
involved in
their neighborhood associations and come to city meetings. They have been given
a
voice."
See the related Urban Parks Institute Success Story: Small Grants Reap Large Rewards
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