Projects funded through the City’s Neighborhood Grant Program have included signs, banners, picnic tables, benches, dog waste stations, flower pots, and landscaping. (Photo collage from City of Covington)
Since the City of Covington created its Neighborhood Grant Program in 2018, groups have used it to fund small projects all around the city:
A tree planting in Austinburg, Dog waste stations, Little Libraries, and pedestrian signs in Monte Casino, Lampposts, plants, and bench repairs in Wallace Woods, Planters and picnic tables in Latonia, A pizza box recycling receptacle and mosaic sign repair in MainStrasse Village and Perennials and herbs in Peaselburg are among recent projects.
Now, $54,000 has been set aside this year for more such projects, and the City and its program administrator – The Center for Great Neighborhoods – are accepting applications.
“You can see and feel the impact of the Neighborhood Grant Program almost anywhere you go,” said Brandon Holmes, Covington’s Neighborhood Services director. “Neighbors working together on quality of life-related matters that the City can ultimately fund.”
So, if you and the neighbors have been talking about sprucing up the neighborhood, now is the time to get square on a plan and submit an application for up to $10,000.
The deadline for applying isn’t until Feb. 14, 2022, but don’t let that fool you: The holidays and procrastination will eat up a lot of that time.
Program guidelines and an application form can be found www.covingtonky.gov.
The process
Step One: Work with your neighbors to develop an idea, project, activity, or event that improves the physical environment or the quality of life in your community.
Step Two: Schedule a meeting or call Shannon Ratterman with The Center for Great Neighborhoods (CGN) to discuss your proposal. This allows for a general vetting of the details of your project or activity and is a time to address any concerns prior to the application submission.
Step Three: Complete your application and submit it by Feb. 14.
Step Four: A committee of staff from the City and CGN will review and evaluate submissions based on the program’s scoring criteria and recommend grant recipients to the Covington Board of Commissioners for approval.
Step Five: City and CGN staff will work with the winning applicants to coordinate the necessary items, including execution of the grant agreement and access to the funding as quickly as possible.
About the program
The Neighborhood Grant Program is a competitively awarded program. Keep in mind that projects must:
• Be initiated by residents who live in a neighborhood and are part of either a formal association or an informal group.
• Enhance the quality of life in the neighborhood through physical improvements or special activities.
• Be feasible to implement in a timely manner. The project must be completed by June 30, 2022.
• Have demonstrated neighborhood support, including a commitment of community contribution of either money or volunteer labor or donated materials.
• Have a neighborhood-wide benefit or general benefit to the area.
Projects may include events, but the event budget should be less than $2,000 and the non-event portion of the budget must be dedicated to improvements that are more permanent. Events must be open to, and benefit, everyone in a community and should be unique and reflective of the neighborhood.
If multiple grant applications are received from one neighborhood, the City may extend the option to combine them into a single proposal. Preference will be given to neighborhoods or areas that have not previously received funding.
In its last round of grant applications, the City received nine applications from eight neighborhoods. Seven of the applications met the program’s requirements and were awarded full funding. A total of just under $27,000 was awarded.
City of Covington
