Mayor Byron W. Brown and the City of Buffalo Division of Citizen Services today announced the winners of the latest round of Love Your Block mini-grants, a program that awards funds to Buffalo neighborhoods for beautification and revitalization projects. Now in its fourth year, 15 winners were recently notified that they were chosen to
receive funding of up to $1,500 for community projects in neighborhoods citywide. Preference was given to residents residing in the Jefferson Avenue area, Black Rock-Riverside, the Upper West Side, Masten Park, Broadway-Fillmore, Kensington-Bailey, Shiller Park, and the Lower Westside.
Mayor Brown stated, “I congratulate all the winners of the Love Your Block
mini-grants and appreciate our shared commitment to building an equitable
and inclusive city of opportunity, while encouraging community engagement
and volunteerism to further improve and beautify our diverse neighborhoods,
one block at a time.”
Love Your Block is a program in which volunteer-led community groups
compete for a chance to win cash grants up to $1,500, as well as project
planning assistance, to beautify and transform a public space in Buffalo.
To help assist those who wished to apply, but needed assistance with their
applications, two workshops were held in East Buffalo. Mayor Brown is
thankful to the community members who were enlisted to review each
application.
The 2022 Love Your Block Grant recipients include the following:
1. Norfolk Ave. Block Club #1
2. Wade Ave Block Club
3. Friends of Broderick Park
4. Kid’s Neighborhood Initiative
5. Groundworks Buffalo
6. Sumner Brinkman Scheu Park and Keystone Block Club
7. African American Cultural Center of Buffalo
8. The Clean Air Coalition of WNY
9. Central Terminal Neighborhood Association
10. Celtic Place Community Garden
11. Minnesota Ave Block Club
12. Fillmore Forward Inc.
13. Bailey Green LLC
14. ELCON Block Club
15. West Ave Block Club
Since its inception, Love Your Block has funded a total of 60 projects
across 22 neighborhoods. Winning projects fell into one of four
categories.
• Vacant Lot Activation: Community Garden/greenhouse, playground, public
art installation, and reactional space
• Community Space Revitalization: Repairs or modifications to community
facilities (schools, community centers, park shelters, senior centers,
etc.), graffiti removal and/or replacement of graffiti with a mural,
planting trees and/or landscaping community facilities
• Accessibility Improvements: Implementing creative lighting, replacing
broken or worn-out litter bins, creating/managing a “tool library” where
neighborhood groups can borrow & return tools for cleanup projects
• Streetscape Improvements: Community volunteer-led beautification on
business strips in the identified target areas. This includes landscaping,
art installments, pedestrian spaces, lighting improvements, and public
safety
