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2022-2024 Mini-Grant Projects

Congratulations to our 8 new mini-grant recipients! They will be implementing projects from July 1, 2023 through April 30, 2024.

Mini-Grant Recipient	Project Summary
The Black Neighborhood	Through The Black Neighborhood, Eastshore Park Boys will expand their reach into the Eastshore Park (Booker T. Anderson Park) community by recruiting 10 local youth to beautify at least 3 properties in the area through painting, mowing lawns, cutting overgrown bushes, trimming trees and hedges, mending fences, and building fences along with recycling.
The Latina Center	The Latina Center will beautify and improve health and safety in Richmond through recruiting 10+ volunteers who will engage 100+ community residents and deliver 100 potted plants and signs for the front of their homes. The plants will symbolize their pledge to support peace and the end of violence against women and girls. A poster/sign will accompany the plants and will be designed by community through an art contest. This bilingual project will culminate in a music performance/event at City Hall or another space that will support ending violence and will feature the community-designed art.
Panhandle Annex Neighborhood Council	In partnership with El Cerrito Garden Club, Panhandle Annex Neighborhood Council's projects will build on their previous beautification efforts in the Panhandle Annex neighborhood. Volunteers will paint front yard fences, plant curbside nectar and pollinator gardens, build two grow boxes, and create an art project decorating boulders with a mosaic design. They will also continue to sustain their S. 55th Street sound wall California Native Garden.
Safe Organized Spaces Richmond	SOS’s Streets and Outreach teams will join forces of unhoused encampment residents and housed neighbors to deepen existing impacts at Parchester Village and Santa Fe neighborhoods, creating opportunities for engagement that address illegal dumping and homelessness. In Parchester Village, SOS will host at least 10 clean-up events. In Santa Fe, SOS will conduct clean-ups 3 times a week.
Triangle Works	The Fran Way Wall Mural Project will create an opportunity for community members to partner with local artists to create a beautiful visual representation of what residents love about their neighborhood. Organizers will use the power of creative expression to increase joy and pride in the community. The images and words in the mural will reflect the diverse, inter-generational group of people sharing the neighborhood. The mural aims to inspire meaningful connection to each other and public spaces. The mural will be located at the wall at the intersection of Fran Way and Appian Way in Richmond.
Valley View School Parents Club	The Valley View School Parents Club will work with students and the school to create a welcoming and accessible green space for students, families and community members to learn, gather and thrive. The first phase of this effort focuses on the beautification and improvement of under-utilized open space to promote sustainability, student health and neighborhood engagement. Future phases include the establishment of a working farm and a space for the May Valley Farmers Market. The project emerged from a participatory and inclusive visioning and design process that occurred in the fall of 2022, focusing on the opportunity to beautify and activate the neighborhood-facing open space in front of the school.
West Contra Costa Public Education Fund	Through the West Contra Costa Public Education Fund, the Black Village Network (BVN) will host an Earth Day event at Humphrey Playlot geared towards engaging Black/African American residents in community beautification. Volunteers will pick up trash, spread woodchips, and refresh structures with paint.
YES Nature to Neighborhoods	YES Nature to Neighborhoods will expand the garden area in Nicholl Park by adding four planter boxes with built-in benches, medicinal and pollinator-friendly plants to add to new and existing planter boxes, signage listing the names and properties of the plants, supplies to ensure the ongoing maintenance of the garden. YES youth and community volunteers will also lead a community park clean-up day.