The Park Slope Civic Council’s efforts for a strong Park Slope go well beyond the activities we directly sponsor and organize. Every year, we also provide up to $10,000 in grants to local nonprofits and noncommercial organizations that have an impact on the quality of life in our neighborhood.
The Civic Council has opened the application process for the 2012-13 grant cycle. Applications are due by Nov. 2, 2012, and grants will be awarded in early 2013. The program is funded by ticket sales from the Council’s annual House Tour; we also hope that funds raised at our upcoming Food for Thought tasting event on Wed., Oct. 10, will further support the grants program.
You can download an application here, and learn more about the program and read about past recipients at parkslopeciviccouncil.org/grants.
The grants — which are awarded to community groups for projects in the arts, education, youth programs, and civic improvements available to residents of Park Slope — certainly make a difference to these groups, especially in this challenging economic climate. The awards range from about $500 to one annual Community Builder grant of $2,000. Sometimes, these funds can fully cover an applicant’s project.
Our grants can also provide seed money for initiatives and give organizations the credibility they may need to help leverage larger awards from more-traditional funders.
Recipients represent a broad spectrum of activities in our neighborhood. In 2011-12, for example, the organizations earning grants were: P.S. 295: The Studio School for Arts and Culture (a Community Builder grant); BRIC Arts | Media | Bklyn, for Celebrate Brooklyn; Brooklyn Alliance of Neighborhood Gardens Land Trust; Brooklyn Conservatory of Music; the Center for Anti-Violence Education; Chocolate Chip Chamber Music; The Create Collective, Inc.; Park Slope Christian Help, Inc. (better known as CHIPS); the Park Slope Elders and Friends Arts Festival; Park Slope United Methodist Church; the P.S. 10 PTA; the P.S. 39 Parents Association; and the P.S. 321 PTA Garden Committee. (Read more about these outstanding grant awardees here.)
— Greg Sutton chairs the Civic Council’s Grants Committee. E-mail him at grants@parkslopeciviccouncil.org.
from the September 2012 Civic News