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A new playground structure is a great addition to ‘Little Rosie’ Park in the Old North End. Residents raised funds from numerous grants including the Neighborhood Development Block Grant and Burlington Neighborhood Project grant. |
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Burlington Neighborhood Project Grant Program
Grant funds, up to $1,000, available to neighborhood associations for
improvement projects in low income neighborhoods through the Burlington
Neighborhood Project.
Funding range: up to $1,000
Purpose: neighborhood safety & community building
Eligible projects: outreach, food, flowers, tools, etc. to
neighborhood associations in low income neighborhoods
Applications due: April
Information: CCAN at 865-7172
Neighborhood Development Block Grant (NDBG)
You can apply for Neighborhood Grants through your Neighborhood Planning
Assembly (NPA). If you are interested in applying for a grant you should
contact your NPA Steering Committee Members or attend a monthly meeting.
Funding range: $1,000-$15,000
Purpose: antipoverty
Eligible projects: physical development like parks, playgrounds, trees,
community facilities, dumpsters, etc.
Applications due: March
Information: CCAN at 865-7172
Building a Place to Play
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Early in the 2003 school year the Parent-Teacher Organization (PTO)
at Lawrence Barnes decided building a new playground would be the
focus of the year. “The school was a target for vandalism and the
back playground was dangerous. The wood structure was falling apart
and rotting,” remembers Heather Gilbert, PTO president that year.
To start, the PTO asked all of the children to draw pictures of what their dream playground would look like, to make sure that it was the children’s playground and that they were involved in the process. The PTO took all the ideas and pulled out the ones that were most popular, and then decided which ones they could actually implement. |
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This playground was built at Lawrence Barnes School last year. The PTO involved the entire school and community to raise funds, design, and construct to playground. |
To start raising money for this project, a graphic designer on the PTO board helped design a donation jar that could go into all the local businesses. While it was not a huge moneymaker, it was an excellent way to spread awareness and get the rest of the community involved. The PTO also held monthly gatherings like a community game night, ice cream socials, and international potluck dinners. At the monthly events everyone was asked to contribute thoughts and ideas to a suggestion box.
To raise additional money for this effort the PTO worked with the school’s AmeriCorps*VISTA member to apply for two grants: the Community Development Block Grant through the Neighborhood Planning Assembly and the Burlington Neighborhood Project Grant. The PTO also had a few ‘angel donors’ from the community. In all, they raised $11,000 for the new playground.
“We wanted to have it done before the first day of school and we did,” says Gilbert. Members of the PTO and other parents helped to tear the old playground down and rebuilt it in one day! The kids were involved from start to finish and they even got to help spread the woodchips.
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