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City announces four more projects funded through Love Your Block

[Duluth, MN] –  Three Lincoln Park and Central Hillside residents and one small business owner were awarded Love Your Block mini-grants. Pending any necessary permit approvals, the following mini-grant awards have been awarded in the final round of 2022:

$1,500 - Lincoln Park Resource Center, Charles Obije

Project: Installation of a mural alongside a food and book little library at community garden site on W 3^rd Street.

$1,000 – Central Hillside resident, Rachael Kilgour
Project: Trash and abandoned waste clean-up in neighborhood surrounding Cascade Park followed by picnic and community visioning session.

$1,500 – Central Hillside resident, Millie Richards

Project: Porch and front step repair of W 4^th street property along with clean-up and landscaping of community gathering space for people of American Indian and First Nations heritage in recovery.

$950 – Storey Taxidermy, James Hagstrom

Project: Repair and replacement of broken windows and door to improve the look and prevent future damage.

The Love Your Block program, supports small scale resident led projects and is funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies Center for Innovation (BPCI). Duluth is one of eight cities nationally to receive two years of funding, training, and mentoring from the Johns Hopkins based center. The Love Your Block model encourages innovation and experimentation to reduce blight through resident and government partnership. After only seven months, Love Your Block has already made a positive impact in our community. Residents and city staff focused resources on cleaning up public and private spaces, adding garden beds to gathering spaces, repairing fences and steps, resurfacing a playground, painting murals, and encouraging neighbors to envision the future together. Additionally, communication and collaboration has occurred in new ways across city divisions, between neighbors, and among non-profit organizations. The Love Your Block program will continue through 2023, with on-going reflection on lessons learned and ways that city systems and residents can better partner at a neighborhood level.

Year-to-date the Love Your Block program, project leaders, community partners, and donors have invested more than $18,000 across thirteen project sites in Lincoln Park and Central Hillside. The third and final round of grant funding allocates $4,950 to support four projects. All of the 2022 projects will be completed by the end of September. Residents interested in volunteering at a project site in the coming weeks are encouraged to contact Annika Frazer, Love Your Block AmeriCorps VISTA, at afrazer@duluthmn.gov or 218-390-5415.

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