A plan unveiled earlier this month dedicates more than $20 million in American Rescue Plan funds to nonprofits and community groups. The money is intended to help groups working to create economic mobility and opportunity in St. Louis, particularly in its historically marginalized neighborhoods.
Issued through grants, the funding could mean big changes for groups already involved in improving their local communities. The city’s Community Development Administration tailored the grants for neighborhood associations and community groups. The department wants these groups to propose projects that cater to their community’s unique needs — such as produce gardens, community grocery stores, affordable housing or home repair.
Historically, development in St. Louis has happened in a top-down manner, said Nahuel Fefer. The executive director of the Community Development Administration told St. Louis on the Air that he hopes these grants will empower residents and spur bottom-up development.
The Community Development Administration has allocated $6,750,000 toward housing production projects, $4,000,000 for home repair, $4,000,000 for proactive development, and $4,500,000 for neighborhood beautification and capacity building.
Grant proposals are due by May 15.
On Monday’s St. Louis on the Air, Fefer shared the types of community-led projects the CDA is ready to fund and how the undertaking fits into Mayor Tishaura Jones' economic justice plan. Listen to the conversation on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Google Podcast, Stitcher, or by clicking the play button below.
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“St. Louis on the Air” brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. The show is produced by Miya Norfleet, Emily Woodbury, Danny Wicentowski, Elaine Cha and Alex Heuer. Avery Rogers is our production assistant. The audio engineer is Aaron Doerr. Send questions and comments about this story to talk@stlpr.org.
