Tag Archives: grants

Fall 2011 NMF Grants Focus on Emergency Preparedness

For any one planning to submit a proposal (or who has already submitted a proposal) for a Dept of Neighborhoods Small and Simple Grant for fall of 2011, the DON will only consider granting funds for Emergency Preparedness activities in conjunction with the SPD Office of Emergency Management. The full text of the DON press release follows:

 Neighborhood Matching Fund to focus on emergency preparedness for fall cycle
New Small and Simple Projects Fund focus and deadline to be announced  

July 15, 2011 (Seattle, WA) – The next cycle of the Small and Simple Projects Fund will have a single focus on
emergency preparedness this fall. Seattle Department of Neighborhoods is partnering with the Office of
Emergency Management to offer this funding opportunity which invests city resources to help community
members connect, organize, and plan for emergency situations with their neighbors. The recent national and
international disasters are vivid reminders that all need to be prepared.

No applications outside of the new emergency preparedness focus will be accepted for the last cycle of the 2011
Small and Simple Projects Fund. The exception is for existing capital projects funded by the Neighborhood
Matching Fund (NMF) that are ready for their next phase of implementation; these projects will be invited to
apply by their NMF project manager.  

Once the new focus is finalized later this fall, information on project types, funding amounts, and the application
process will be available at www.seattle.gov/neighborhoods/nmf/smallandsimple.htm. The deadlines for the
2012 cycles of the Small and Simple Projects Fund will be announced in November.

Crown Hill Center Update and Work Party

We received the following good news update on the Crown Hill Center from Catherine Weatbrook:

This past spring, the Crown Hill team has been hard at work on a number of improvements to the Crown Hill Center building and grounds.  In that effort, we submitted a Department of Neighborhoods Large Project Fund to go towards replacing about 1/2 of the old roof surface.  We are pleased to announce that the Ballard as well as City Wide Review teams have recommended this project for the maximum grant amount of $100,000!   Thank you!   The recommendation still must be approved by the Seattle City Council and the Mayor.  We are hopeful that history will repeat itself and the review team recommendations will be approved as submitted.

We are moving forward with several of the projects involved in the matching for this grant.  The first work party, is Saturday, June 18th from 10-2.  Stop by for an hour or four and help out.  Rain or shine, we’ll be tackling projects that make the building a better community space.  Weeding, clearing, grading, cleaning, scrubbing, picking up trash, organizing, and maybe even some painting.

For more information, please contact Catherine.Weatbrook@gmail.com 206 372 2033

Crown Hill Center Grant to Repair Roof Moves Forward

At the Ballard District Council meeting on May 11th, a grant to repair the roof of the south wing of the future Crown Hill Center received an excellent rating. This means the grant will move forward to the next round, a city-wide review of all large project neighborhood matching grant applications for this year.  The Department of Neighborhoods administers the Large Project Fund for awards up to $100,000 to foster community members in projects which build community involvement in large projects.

The Ballard District Council review committee headed by Joe Wertz, rated the project at 96 out of 100.

The Crown Hill Center was purchased from the Seattle School District two years ago as the result of a community supported effort to acquire the former Crown Hill School, creating the Crown Hill Center and the soon to be Crown Hill Park. The roof project is one of the most critical at the Center, and will prevent deterioration of other elements of the building. Although this project is called the ‘roof project,’ it actually includes many additional elements:

  • Gardening, digging, planning including the rain garden for the west side to address drainage issues
  • Creating signage for the building
  • Building a fence between the playground and the new park
  • Restoring the south lobby
  • Turning the nook outside of the south lobby into an active space to compliment the park
  • Arts Festival activities (all aspects of)

Catherine Weatbrook recently appealed for pledges of community support for this project. Thanks for all the offers, and we look forward to completing the project with your help.  The actual roof work will be done by a contractor rather than volunteers, so no worries about climbing up there and toiling in the hot sun with roofing tar!

Crown Hill Center Playground Survey

Recently Small Faces completed work on a grant to install a new play structure in the playground area. This is Phase 1 of a plan to revitalize the playground area. The playground and new structure are open to the public when Small Faces is not using them.  Crown Hill Center/Small Faces are asking folk to complete a survey to be sure that the new Crown Hill Center Playground reflects the interests and needs of the Crown Hill Community at large. Please take a few moments to answer the four question survey here.  Thanks!

Trees for Seattle Neighborhoods

Here’s an opportunity to get some free trees from the city of Seattle. The city Department of Neighborhoods (DON) administers the Tree Fund to enhance the urban forest. Since 1972 the city estimates that Seattle’s urban forest tree cover has decreased from 40% to 22%. Trees play an important part in holding back stormwater surges, reducing erosion, retaining carbon, absorption of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, and improving the aesthetic qualities of the urban environment. And we’ve lost some very large and some very old trees in Crown Hill in the last several years.

The DON Tree Fund has planted more than 20,000 trees in 15 years. This year’s program requires a group of neighbors living on a block or street get together and agree to plant between 10 to 40 trees. Each participating house can then choose a fruit tree.

Full details are available at the tree fund web site. Applications are due by August 16th, 2010.