Do people around you have a great idea for improving your neighborhood? Let them know that Love Your Block Baltimore opened applications for their second round of mini-grants on Saturday, Feb. 14.
Love Your Block Baltimore is a community-based mini-grant initiative enabled by a partnership between the Mayor’s Office of Community Affairs, Living Classrooms Foundation, and the Bloomberg Center for Public Innovation. The program gives money to Baltimore residents in Love Your Block districts who want to lead projects to improve and sustain the health of their community. Districts include Belair Edison, Caring Active Restoring Efforts (C.A.R.E.), and Broadway East communities where Love Your Block operates, and all are encouraged to apply for mini-grants.
“Our goal is to aid residents in creating and leading impactful projects that they always wanted to see executed in their communities,” said Cheryl Rivere, managing director of Workforce Development at Living Classrooms Foundation, a Love Your Block partner. “Love Your Block gives residents a platform to be a changemaker in their neighborhood–because every day, people have ideas and the mindset to do extraordinary things. We are here to be a catalyst and offer assistance.”
Founded in 2009, the Love Your Block grant program operates in cities nationwide. Residents take the lead in focusing on the mission of neighborhood cleaning, greening, community safety, and vitality. The mini-grants help them pay for these projects. Baltimore is one of the most recent cities to participate, joining Love Your Block for the 2024-2026 cycle along with 15 other cities.
Baltimore’s 2025 Cycle 1 mini-grant program gave residents in the Belair Edison neighborhood funds to design, develop, and complete community projects of their choosing. They focused on neighborhood cleaning and greening. For Cycle 2, Love Your Block is expanding its work into Broadway East and C.A.R.E., looking for new applicants with creative and sustainable ideas.
People who live in Belair Edison, C.A.R.E., and Broadway East can get more details about application deadlines, eligibility, and selection criteria by following Love Your Block on Instagram or visiting the Love Your Block website. They can also contact Tendai Murray via email at tmurray@livingclassrooms.org .
