Atlanta Awarded $25K Grant to Help Revitalize Neighborhoods

Patch Staff Report

The City of Atlanta has been awarded a $25,000 grant to implement a service initiative designed to revitalize neighborhoods throughout the city.

Atlanta is one of 23 U.S. cities to win a Cities of Service Impact Volunteering Fund grant, which supports mayors who are implementing “impact volunteering” strategies that tackle pressing local challenges.

“Volunteerism demonstrates the best of our city’s spirit,” said Mayor Kasim Reed in a news release. “This grant provides the City of Atlanta increased capacity to work toward becoming one of the top ten sustainable cities in the United States, while improving our neighborhoods with beautification projects.”

Atlanta’s $25,000 grant will go towards mobilizing a community-wide volunteer team that will work to revitalize 50 city blocks by removing 25,000 pounds of litter, planting 250 trees and 2,000 flowers, and removing graffiti.

The Cities of Service model focuses on “impact volunteering” – volunteer strategies that target community needs, use best practices, and set clear, measurable outcomes to gauge progress. Dozens of cities across the nation have adopted the model since its introduction in 2009.

Cities that received first round grants from the Cities of Service Impact Volunteering Fund in October 2012 already have shown success leveraging volunteers across a range of issue areas.

Last year, Atlanta received $25,000 in funding to support the city’s recycling initiative. Through this program, volunteers have worked with over 6,500 citizens to improve their recycling habits, increase the percentage of households recycling, and reduce the tonnage of valuable recyclables that would otherwise end up in landfills.

Funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Cities of Service Impact Volunteering Fund is a multi-million dollar fund. Nearly $1 million was awarded through the first round of grants in October 2012, with an additional $1 million awarded through this second round.

Information in this story was provide by the City of Atlanta and edited for publication