PROMISE NEIGHBORHOOD GRANTS ANNOUNCED: PARTNERSHIPS STILL POSSIBLE

January 5, 2012

On December 19, 2011, the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) announced the 2011 winners of the Promise Neighborhood Planning and Implementation grant programs. Focusing on school improvement as a means to revitalize underserved neighborhoods, Promise Neighborhood projects address the need to plan and implement necessary health, safety and social service stability from early learning to college to career. Planning grants, especially, place a strong emphasis on partnerships as a planning priority. In this round, competition was fierce. Of the more than 200 applicants, only 20 were selected; five implementation grantees and 10 planning grantees. A list of winning communities and organizations is provided below.

Public broadcasting stations located in these 19 communities (New York City was selected twice) have the opportunity, still, to play a role in the projects funded by these grants, and should reach out to the selected organizations to discuss collaboration. As we previously highlighted, applicants who partnered with public broadcasters received up to an additional two points on their application. The Grant Center, as well as the DOE, understands the importance of community partnerships and the value of local stations in those relationships.

The winning communities and organizations include:

Implementation Grantees

• Buffalo, N.Y. – Westminster Foundation.
• Minneapolis, M.N. – Northside Achievement Zone.
• Clay, Jackson and Owsley Counties, K.Y. – Berea College.
• San Antonio, T.X. – United Way of San Antonio and Bexar County, Inc.
• Hayward, C.A. – California State University, East Bay.

Planning Grantees

• San Francisco, C.A. – Mission Economic Development Agency.
• Fresno, C.A. – Reading and Beyond.
• Macon, G.A. – Mercer University.
• Tulsa, O.K. – Community Action Project of Tulsa.
• New York, N.Y.* – Elmezzi Foundation and CAMBA.
• Chula Vista, C.A. – South Bay Community Services.
• Detroit, M.I. – Black Family Development.
• Charlottesville, V.A. – Children Youth and Family Services.
• Chicago, I.L. – SGA Youth and Family Services.
• Glouster, O.H. – Ohio University.
• Meriden, C.T. – Meriden Children’s First.
• Nashville, T.N. – Martha O’Bryan Center.
• Hudson, N.Y. – Catholic Charities of Albany.
• Campo, C.A. – Campo Band of Missions Indians.

The full press release announcing the winners is found on the U.S. DOE website.

Please don’t hesitate to contact the Grant Center (grantcenter@apts.org) for assistance as you seek collaboration in these communities.

* There were two separate awards made to the New York City region, one to the Elmezzi Foundation and the other to CAMBA.