As part of ongoing efforts to combat blight, the city of Albany is awarding “Love Your Block” grants.
Announcing 57 projects to receive funding, Mayor Kathy Sheehan says the program is a way to support community revitalization.
“Investing in people who are already investing in our neighborhoods who are already so in love with their block and with the city and with this community, that they want to ensure that we are working together to bring the resources that are necessary to help improve those blocks," Sheehan said.
Erin Johanns, Albany’s Love Your Block Fellow, says getting the project started was a challenge.
“Our first year in 2022 was a time of new beginnings and learning for our team. As our Johns Hopkins Senior Advisor put it, starting the program from scratch was like learning how to fly a plane while also having to build it at the exact same time," Johanns said.
But Johanns says it’s been worth it.
“We overcame those challenges and were able to complete a total of eight grant funded projects alongside another eight projects that received existing city services and volunteers. Last year, we activated five different vacant lots, repaired 15 front porches and stoops, distributed 57 recycling bins and private trash cans, cleared two residential back yards of debris and overgrowth, installed two community boards and built three raised garden beds," Johanns said.
Sheehan says the program is opening doors to previously unrealized opportunities.
“This is gaining steam just as we hoped that it would. And we're really trying to start a movement here. The other thing that I'm really excited about is that this project allows us to connect people with additional resources that they might not have realized that we have right here in the city of Albany," Sheehan said.
Quisqueya Whitbeck, the Love Your Block program’s AmeriCorps volunteer, says the struggles Albany residents face in keeping up their homes are common.
“So the greatest challenge sometimes ,which I would say this is not unique to this area or this program, is sometimes folks knowing where to go where to access certain services and knowing what's available," Whitbeck said.
Whitbeck says addressing that is central to Love Your Block’s mission.
“Apart from what Love Your Block might be more known for, which is the front porches, stoop repairs, the community cleanups, putting in plants and what have you, there's also the aspect of our work, which is more letting folks know what else is out there," Whitbeck said.
Whitbeck says city residents can apply for the program, which traditionally targets underserved neighborhoods. But there are no income considerations.
Johanns says that Love Your Block hopes to grow its scope and scale.
“Last year, we completed eight fully funded grant programs, and this year, we have 11. So we've expanded our numbers a bit. But we're also again expanding upon the other services. While we can't necessarily complete all of the grant requests to the full extent, we are a small $20,000 grant, we are hoping to expand our grant more next year through donations and other funding," Johanns said.
The properties are located in historically disadvantaged neighborhoods like Arbor Hill, Mt. Hope, and Sheridan Hollow.
Democratic Common Councilor Owusu Anane, whose district contains several grant recipients, says the grants are a way to address historic injustices.
“Many of my colleagues as a council member, we want to make sure that we have beautifying our neighborhoods no matter what zip code you’re in," Anane said.
Local activist Lukee Forbes works for the Albany Free School, one of the grant recipients, and says that the city’s support has been vital.
“We actually have an attached residential property next to us that we rent out as affordable property. Now we're able to actually do a lead testing and a weatherization kit- provide a new weatherization kit to the property thanks to this. And we also apply to do a block party through the Free School, which they are going to be assisting us with," Forbes said.
Rich Daley, a permaculture educator, says that the projects also include efforts to boost Albany’s biodiversity.
"So what we're going to be doing is creating like a retaining wall to kind of keep some of that soil on site, keep some of the water on site, encourage some positive, you know, ecological areas for plants, birds, a little water area to kind of capture some of that water as it's going down the hill, which helps with things like dual sewer, sewer overflow events that happen in the city, where combined sewers, overflowing in rivers, so we're kind of slowing some of that water down, and also creating a good ecological habitat for animals, you know, all types of animals," Daley said.
There’s more information here.
