GILROY
– Ten of Gilroy’s poorest neighborhoods got a little richer last
week.
GILROY – Ten of Gilroy’s poorest neighborhoods got a little richer last week.
On Thursday, the San Jose-based nonprofit Community Foundation Silicon Valley announced $25,364 in neighborhood grants it will give to 10 Gilroy neighborhoods.
That money is more than half of the $44,771 the CFSV rewarded to a total of 20 neighborhoods throughout the Silicon Valley.
“The reality is that the Gilroy neighborhoods rewarded have met our standards,” said Michelle McGurk, the spokesperson for CFSV. “They displayed quite a significant need.”
The 10 individual Gilroy grants – ranging between $1,810 and $3,215 – are designed to help residents revitalize their neighborhoods through activities such as social events, awareness programs and beautification efforts that encourage neighbors to participate in their community, McGurk said.
Both the Gilroy Police Department and South County Housing have worked with neighborhoods throughout the city to secure the grants.
“The key to improving a neighborhood starts with getting to know your neighbor,” McGurk said. “The neighborhoods (receiving the grants) all have problems with crime, absentee property owners, transient residents and personal safety issues – all of these things really chip away at community spirit.”
The 10 Gilroy neighborhoods receiving grants include the East Eighth Street Neighborhood Association, the Gilroy Eastside community group, the Gilroy Eigleberry Neighborhood Association, the Glenview Drive Neighborhood Association, IOOF/San Ysidro Association, the North Murray Avenue Community, the Parkview Neighborhood Association, the Rogers Lane Neighborhood, the Southgate Court Neighborhood Association and the Stoney Court Neighborhood Association.
The different communities will use the money to fund events such as barbecues, neighborhood cleanup days, youth activity days, neighborhood crime watch groups, holiday celebrations, graffiti cleanup and other activities.
CFSV formed in 1954 and works closely with the Gilroy Foundation. Seven neighborhoods from San Jose and three neighborhoods from Sunnyvale also received neighborhood grants on Thursday.
