Six Gilroy neighborhood groups have snapped up more than $13,000
in grants to support clean-ups, socials and other community events,
awarded by the Silicon Valley Community Foundation.
Gilroy – Six Gilroy neighborhood groups have snapped up more than $13,000 in grants to support clean-ups, socials and other community events, awarded by the Silicon Valley Community Foundation.
“This grant is like a life-saver for many groups,” said Daniel Chavez, a neighborhood specialist with the city’s Department of Housing and Community Development. Chavez worked closely with neighborhood leaders when they applyed for the grants. He also helps them plan how to use it. “It’s really easy to apply for and to implement. It gives them a chance to do the things they want to do.”
For Sharon Root, president of the Rogers Lane Neighborhood Association, that means a neighborhood watch program, cleanup days and flower plantings. Her group has received the grant before, and hopes to maintain the progess it’s made.
“We’ve had less graffiti, less shootings,” said Root. “People take a better interest in the place now. They keep their apartments clean. They paint them … Now, I know almost every single person in the apartments.”
Five other Gilroy groups won grants: the Aspen Grove Community Association, Church and Farrell Avenue Neighborhood, IOOF Neighborhood Association, Glen View Area, and the Sobrato Community Association, located in the Sobrato Transitional Apartments. All but IOOF and Rogers Lane are first-time applicants, said Rachel Muñoz, a Gilroy Police Community Service Officer who handles community policing programs.
“Any neighborhood can apply for this grant,” said Muñoz, who was pleased to see even newborn organizations like Sobrato winning funds. “In many neighborhoods, we live really busy lives so people tend to live in an isolated busyness.
When leaders get together and promote neighborhood activities it brings the neighborhood together … When people know each other, they know their routines and tend to protect the neighborhood better.”
Monday, Muñoz and Chavez met with Root to put together a timeline for community events.
The paperwork is required by SVCF, but it also helps grantees plan their events – and make sure the moneys are well-spent.
