Neighborhood Placemaker Grant

Posted by Pennsylvania Horticultural Society on December 21, 2015

Neighborhood Placemaker Grant

As part of the Civic Landscapes Initiative, PHS, with support from the Philadelphia Department of Commerce, is pleased to offer the second year of Neighborhood Placemaker Grants. Philadelphia-based organizations with project ideas to beautify their neighborhood along a commercial corridor are invited to submit a letter of interest between December 22, 2015 and February 12, 2016. If your project is selected you will be asked to submit a full application. Awards will be between $15,000 and $25,000. Neighborhood Placemaker Grants offer a funding opportunity for impactful projects that answer the question: how can you make your neighborhood beautiful through horticulture?

An information session will be held January 6, 5:00 PM at PHS, 100 N. 20th Street, Philadelphia. RSVP to neighborhood@pennhort.org. Attendance is encouraged but not required for submitting an LOI. LOI’s will be accepted online starting December 22nd .

We are looking for projects in Philadelphia that meet one or more of the following criteria:

• Creates a beautiful and sustainable public space within a commercial corridor
• Builds community and results in a project with long-term, multi-level impact
• Exemplifies Philadelphia as a city with great civic landscapes

Who should apply: We invite applicants from across Philadelphia to share their ideas for making communities more vibrant places to live and work: neighborhood and business associations, BIDs, community organizations, educational institutions, religious organizations, block captains, businesses, non-profits, CDCs, special services districts, garden clubs, park groups, etc. Successful applicants will demonstrate strong community involvement and commitment to the project.

How it works: Submit a Letter of Interest (LOI) by answering a few questions on the PHS website at http://phsonline.org/neighborhood-placemaker-rfp-invite (the questions are also listed below). There will be a strict 250 word limit per answer. If your project is selected for consideration, you will be asked to submit a formal application. Questions? E-mail neighborhood@pennhort.org.

1) Who are you? Introduce yourself and your organization, provide your contact information.

2) What’s your idea? Tell us where your project is and what it’s about.

3) How will it impact your neighborhood? Which commercial corridor is your project near? (include factors such as physical, environmental, social, health, or economic impacts)

4) How does your project align with the PHS mission to connect people to horticulture and together create beautiful, healthy and sustainable communities?

5) Who have you talked to? How will they help? (include land owners, government representatives, community associations, businesses, etc.)

Please send questions to neighborhood@pennhort.org.