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Victoria serves up $180,000 in neighbourhood grants for community projects

Program provides matching funds for 51 initiatives
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Lights twinkle downtown over the 1000 block of Broad Street, which was closed to traffic and seating areas and a stage set up in 2020, to allow for physical distancing and also to create a walkable environment. It was one of the placemaking initiatives that received money from the City of Victoria’s’s My Great Neighbourhood grant program. (Don Descoteau/News Staff)

From community murals, gardens and food security projects to tree planting initiatives and even traffic calming, 51 community projects in Victoria got a cash boost from 2020 My Great Neighbourhood grants.

Having done their own fundraising via sponsorships or in-kind donations of goods or labour, groups looking to proactively enhance their neighbourhood or the city secured more than $180,000 in matching funding from the city.

Categories include placemaking, activities, and, for initiatives supporting residents during the pandemic, the temporary category of community recovery and resilience.

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“These grants are all about empowering residents to stay connected and strengthen their community in safe, new ways that bring neighbours together in addition to the stimulus for the local economy,” said Mayor Lisa Helps in a release.

Placemaking projects received up to $5,000 while activity initiatives were granted up to $1,000 in matching funds. Successful applicants doing community recovery and resiliency projects were granted up to $5,000.

Intake for the 2021 My Great Neighbourhood grant program opens this spring. Find more information at victoria.ca under the Residents tab.

ALSO READ: Half a million available to Victoria strategic plan grant applicants


 

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