One project funded last year was the painting of basketball courts at Randolph Park. (Photo from The Center for Great Neighborhoods.)

Deadline is March 31 to apply for City grant program

COVINGTON, Ky. – Neighborhood groups and others have until March 31 to apply for grants of up to $10,000 to carry out small projects that will beautify or energize their local areas.

The City of Covington has allocated $60,000 for its annual Neighborhood Grant Program, which since 2018 has been used to fund small projects and events all around the city. Last year, for example, 11 projects were awarded from $2,500 to $6,320 for things like fruit trees and painting of the basketball courts in Randolph Park, a Halloween party in Latonia, safety signs in Levassor Park, dog waste stations in Old Town/Mutter Gottes, and signage in Linden Grove Cemetery.

“We tried to spread the money into as many neighborhoods as we could,” Covington Neighborhood Services Director Brandon Holmes said. “We saw a lot of neat projects completed around Covington.”

See program guidelines for details and an application form. Administration of the program is being handled by The Center for Great Neighborhoods, whose staff will work with applicants during every step of the process.

“One of the reasons this program is so rewarding is that we see a lot of people step up with an idea and learn how to implement it,” said Cate Douglas, Community Building Director for The Center. “People in Covington really care about their surrounding neighborhoods, and we get to work with the City to help them make improvements.”

About the program

The Neighborhood Grant Program is a competitively awarded program. Keep in mind that projects must:

• Be neighborhood focused and initiated by residents who live in a neighborhood.
• Enhance the quality of life in the neighborhood through visible physical improvements or special activities.
• Be able to be executed within a reasonable period.
• Have demonstrated neighborhood support.
• Have a neighborhood-wide benefit or general benefit to the area.
• Be sustainable.

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.

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: Contact Cate Douglas with The Center for Great Neighborhoods (CGN) at (859) 547-5550 or cate@greatneighborhoods.org to discuss your proposal. This allows for a general vetting of the details of the project or activity and is the time to address any concerns prior to the application submission.

Step Three: Complete your application and submit it by March 31.

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. Holmes said the City hoped to have the grants awarded in April.

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.

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.

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