A $20,000 grant from the Birmingham Foundation will support the Love My Neighbor! Program for residents in the Allentown, Beltzhoover, and Knoxville communities.
The Grassroots Grantmaking Committee (GGC) empowers leaders to make investment decisions that positively impact their communities via the Love My Neighbor! Grant program. The role of the Neighborhood Allies Grantmaking Committee member is to review proposals, meet with other committee member to discuss proposals, interview grantseekers and make funding decisions.
After two rounds of grant funding, the Love My Neighbor! grant program, has funded 45 projects totaling $77,000 of investment into nine communities across the Pittsburgh region. With Birmingham support, The Love My Neighbor! Program aims to increase collective efficacy and thereby reduce the high crime rates in Allentown, Beltzhoover, and Knoxville. The program has three components:
- Small Grants Program: Love My Neighbor! offers grants ($500 – $2,500) to residents to do projects that build upon community assets, connect neighbors, and create positive change for their neighborhoods. To apply, resident groups submit online or paper applications and complete interviews with grantmaking committee.
- Grassroots Grantmaking Committee (GGC): Where Love My Neighbor! differs from all grantmaking programs in Pittsburgh is in how funding decisions are made. The GGC, a body of residents from each of Neighborhood Allies’ target communities, reviews grant applications, interviews residents about their projects, and decides on which projects to fund. Throughout their work, one aspect is unwavering: the GGC’s role is not to be above residents trying to lift them up; rather, their role is to stand by them and find ways to support their current work and aspirations as fellow residents themselves. Founding member of the GGC Tia Torres describes Love My Neighbor! as having “no hierarchy or power. It’s the community serving the community.”
- The Network: The Love My Neighbor! Network is made up of applicants and grantees of the Love My Neighbor! Program, supplemented by the resources and network connections of Neighborhood Allies. The network identifies and connects the skills, knowledge, and expertise of residents to one another across communities. Through the collective power of the network, residents refer each other to leadership opportunities, events, trainings, employment opportunities, property and land related legal assistance, as well as other resources to support their vision for their community.
Thank you, Birmingham Foundation, for your generous support!
For more information on the Love My Neighbor! Program and associated grant and involvement opportunities, click here. The 2018 application cycle opens in January–you may submit your application online, in person or via mail.
