From Hillsborough County – Learn How to Apply for Neighborhood Mini-Grants:
Funds are now available for the 2008 Neighborhood Mini-Grant Program. Hillsborough County established the mini-grant program in 1998 to help strengthen neighborhood associations and the communities they serve. The county has $94,000 available for the grants; the maximum award to any neighborhood association is $1,500.
Neighborhood Mini-Grant orientation classes are scheduled throughout the county later this month, and in
June and July for those who would like to become familiar with the grant process. Topics covered in the orientation classes include a review of the application, grant criteria, projects that qualify for the funds, and question and answer sessions. Dates, times and locations for the optional orientations are listed below.*Upper Tampa Bay Regional Public Library, 11211 Countryway Blvd., Tampa May 29 – 6:30 p.m.
*Bloomingdale Regional Public Library, 1906 Bloomingdale Ave., Valrico May 31 – 6:30 p.m.
*Lutz Branch Library, 101 Lutz Lake Fern Road, Lutz June 4 – 6:30 p.m.
*SouthShore Regional Service Center, 410 30th St. S.E., Ruskin June 12 – 10 a.m.
*Brandon Regional Library, 619 Vonderburg Drive, Brandon June 19 – 6:30 p.m.
*Bruton Memorial Library, 302 McLendon St., Plant City June 26 – 6:30 p.m.
*County Center, 26th Floor, Conference Room A, 601 E. Kennedy Blvd., Tampa July 10 – 6:30 p.m.
Neighborhood Mini-Grant Applications are available on the Office of Neighborhood Relations web page at www.hillsboroughcounty.org/onr/ and click on Mini-Grant Applications. Completed applications are due July 20. Applications will then be forwarded to the Grant Review Committee. The committee’s evaluation and recommendations are expected to be completed by early September, and forwarded to the Board of County Commissioners for approval in early October.
The program is co-sponsored by the Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners, Hillsborough County Children’s Board and the Frank E. Duckwall Foundation within the Community Foundation of Tampa Bay.
For questions, please contact Nancy Rubin, Office of Neighborhood Relations, at 272-5860, or e-mail
rubinn@hillsboroughcounty.org, or Shelley Blood, Director, Office of Neighborhood Relations at bloods@hillsboroughcounty.org.
Of course, if you have no official neighborhood association, Hillsborough County can help you start one.
While we’re at it, the City of Tampa has a Department of Neighborhood and Community Relations too.
