Buffalo, NY – Today, Mayor Byron W. Brown announced the first round of winners of the Love Your Block mini-grant program to support community efforts to beautify their neighborhoods. Love Your Block, funded by Cities of Service and Cities RISE and administered by the City of Buffalo’s Division of Citizen Services, awards mini-grants of up to $1,500 to local organizations with innovative project ideas. These projects focus on creating community cohesion and address issues under the following project categories: accessibility improvement, community space revitalization, streetscape improvement, and vacant lot activation. The Division of Citizen Services’ Love Your Block team is continuing to review applications and plans to award additional organizations in the coming weeks.
The first round of Love Your Block Grant Awardees, as well as their projects, are listed below.
- African American Cultural Center: Making improvements to the building's facade through landscaping surrounding areas
- Box Ave. Block Club: Creating a community garden, installing fencing, and hosting clean-up events
- Burlington Ave. Block Club: Continuing to beautify Burlington Avenue community through the installation of new light fixtures and flower beds
- Canisius College/New Buffalo Project: Creating a 20-bed community garden & gathering place on Jefferson Avenue
- Castle Place Block Club: Restore the Castle Place Block Club sign and surrounding flower beds
- East Lovejoy Coalition of Neighborhoods (ELCON): Adding new plants, flowers, and decorations to the planters located along East Lovejoy Street
- Esser Ave. Community Garden: Revitalizing the previous community garden through installing pavers and new garden features to create a walkway
- Freedom Gardens: Plant heirloom organic non-GMO seeds and seedlings that will provide fresh vegetables and herbs throughout the growing season to residents in Buffalo’s most vulnerable communities
- Fruit of The City/ FruitBelt Coalition: Planting new flowers, trees, and bushes, in addition to pavers and a memorial tribute to the garden
- Fruit Belt Community Land Trust: Installing light fixtures into Fruit Belt residents' porches and pathways to deter crime
- Fillmore Forward, Inc.: Beautifying a community garden space along Fillmore Avenue
- Hamlin Park Community and Taxpayers Association: Using the currently designated park space to develop a community sensory garden
Historic Jefferson Ave. Block Club: Improving Jefferson Avenue streetscape through community clean-up events and adding lighting
Home Beneath Our Feet: Restoring a neighborhood park in the Masten Park neighborhood through community clean up and educational events
Jericho Road Community Health Center: Purchasing and attaching wood panels to its chain link fence and commissioning local artists to paint welcoming art
Kail Military Amherst Block Club: Building flower planters for residents to care for along Kail Street and on the corners of Military, Amherst, and Kail
Minnesota Ave. Block Club: Beautifying the medians of Minnesota Avenue with planters, trees, and shrubs
Roebling Ave. Block Club: Beautifying the corner of Roebling & Gerald Avenues with a planter, flowers, and decorative lights
The Belle Center: Distributing Garden bulbs, community resources, literature, and flashlights to the residents of the Lower West Side neighborhood
Wealth in Health Community Garden: Enhancing community garden space by adding wood chips and plants to the garden area
Winslow Ave Block Club #2: Completing the community garden, adding a Block Club sign, and building a shed for tools to be stored
“Since the start of this program three years ago, Love Your Block has helped to further connect nearly 70 resident-led groups and our City, addressing the needs they see, block by block,” said Mayor Byron W. Brown. “As we continue to recover from the COVID-19 global health pandemic, resident engagement is especially important to our neighborhoods. My Administration is proud to invest in the first round of the 2021 Love Your Block grant awardees. I look forward to seeing how their unique visions of beautifying public, shared spaces benefit their neighbors and our City for years to come.”
Director of the Division of Citizen Services Oswaldo Mestre, Jr. stated, “Our Love Your Block team and the entire Division of Citizen Services are excited to work closely with these outstanding community organizations to help beautify neighborhoods throughout the city. As we begin to come out of the COVID-19 pandemic, we are excited to continue working with our trusted community leaders in addressing needs in Buffalo. I would like to thank all of our partners and project leaders for their continued commitment to strengthening our neighborhoods.”
Congratulations to the 2021 Love Your Block mini-grant winners. The grant funding is made possible with support from Cities of Service, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Cities RISE, and the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS)