The city of Knoxville may award nearly $35,000 in grants to 15 neighborhood groups with ideas to spruce up their respective ‘hoods.

Part of the city’s annual Neighborhoods Small Grants Program, the awards vary from $600-$3,100 and cover a range of projects to be embedded in residential enclaves all across town. But first they must be approved by City Council, which is expected to review and vote on the grants during its May 10 meeting.

Knoxville’s Office of Neighborhoods announced the grant program in December, held mandatory workshops in January, and collected applications through March before selecting awardees. More than half of the grants will technically be made to the East Tennessee Community Design Center, a registered nonprofit, who will then administer them to varies community groups (that’s because the city can’t legally make a grant to a group other than a nonprofit, as recognized by the IRS, Knoxville’s Neighbor Coordinator David Massey says).

“This is different from some grant programs. While the immediate goal is neighborhood improvement in one way or another, the companion goal is strengthening neighborhood organizations and strengthening the social fabric within the community,” Massey says. “We require a dollar-for-dollar match [from these neighborhood groups], and one-third of the match has to be in volunteer labor from the neighborhood’s residents. When neighbors work together with other neighbors the community becomes stronger, and that’s what we’re really after.”

A full list of potential grantees is included below. This year’s list includes two grants to help start neighborhood groups, some signage improvements or construction, one youth program, and a variety of other projects.

Full list (provided by the city of Knoxville):

1. East Tennessee Community Design Center — $2,950 to support Adair Gardens Residents Association’s Gateways to Adair project, including outreach efforts in the neighborhood, construction and installation of neighborhood entrance signs, and landscaping.
2. East Tennessee Community Design Center — $1,970 to support Carriage Lane Condominium Association’s preparations for its 50th Anniversary Celebration of the development’s creation as the first condo community in the state, removal of an aging and unsightly entrance sign, and construction of a new sign.
3. East Tennessee Community Design Center — $600 to support Fountaincrest Neighborhood Association’s “Get the Word Out – We’re Organizing” project, including a newsletter, meeting reminder signs, meeting supplies and potluck supplies.
4. East Tennessee Community Design Center — $2,100 to support various youth programs in which Green Hills Residents Association is a participant, including the Leadership Knoxville Scholars Program and an annual youth conference.
5. East Tennessee Community Design Center — $3,100 to support Historic Holston Hills Community Club’s project to enhance the accessibility and usefulness of Holston Hills Community Park.
6. East Tennessee Community Design Center — $3,100 for the Inskip Community Association to cover a portion of the expenses related to the construction and maintenance of a community garden as part of its collaborative “Nurturing Gardens to Nurture Families” initiative.
7. East Tennessee Community Design Center — $3,100 for Island Home Park Neighborhood Association’s branding and beautification of entrances to the neighborhood.
8. East Tennessee Community Design Center — $3,100 to cover a portion of the costs for Lindbergh Forest Neighborhood Association’s placemaking project, including expansion of the volunteer base, installation of neighborhood signs, landscaping, clean-ups, and a neighborhood breakfast and walking tour.
9. East Tennessee Community Design Center — $600 for Our Community Organization’s plan for a community cook-out, a community forum, and increased attendance at neighborhood meetings in the area of Paul Hogue Park.
10. East Tennessee Community Design Center — $3,100 for Timbercrest Neighborhood Association’s community and communication initiatives, including the printing of fliers and newsletters, announcement signs, website hosting, folding tables, inflatable movie screen, resurfacing of a basketball court, and various supplies for community events.
11. Morningside Heights Homeowners Association — $955 for office equipment that will enhance production of neighborhood newsletters and for the refurbishment of the gazebo at Odd Fellows Cemetery.
12. Oakwood Lincoln Park Neighborhood Association — $1,850 to create and promote a 2.29-mile sidewalk loop trail that showcases 200 differently styled homes, encourages walking and healthy living, and brings neighbors together, and increase neighborhood watch activity.
13. Old North Knoxville, Inc. — $3,000 to cover a portion of the cost for its “Marking Our Streets and Our History” project with new street signs that include both the street name and the neighborhood name, along with landscaping around each sign.
14. Parkridge Community Organization — $2,000 for a PCO beautification project to plant thousands of daffodil bulbs in the grassy strips between the street and sidewalk throughout the neighborhood.
15. RiverHill Gateway Neighborhood Association — $3,000 for the purchase and installation of a neighborhood sign, installation of picnic tables at a community gathering spot, and a Grand Opening Celebration.

Clay Duda

Former Mercury staff reporter Clay Duda has covered gangs in New York, housing busts in Atlanta, and wildfires in Northern California. And lots of stuff about Knoxville.