Love Your Block Grant Application

LOVE YOUR BLOCK COMMUNITY BUILDING GRANTS

Love Your Block is a grant program that helps the City of Lancaster strengthen neighborhoods through resident-powered improvement projects. Since it’s inception the Department of Neighborhood Engagement has awarded over 60 community projects. Love Your Block is a program established in partnership with Cities of Service, Bloomberg Philanthropies and its continued support and program enhancements in partnership with the High Foundation.

Applications for the next round of Love Your Block is now open! The deadline to apply is March 31, 2025.

Love Your Block 2025 Application

There are three categories of Love Your Block grants available:

Community Building: Examples of community building projects include: block parties, installations of public trash cans, community clean up days, youth mentorship, community gardens, community resource networks, community sport leagues, wellness practices, etc.

Community Art : Examples of community art projects include neighborhood art murals, developing a portrait series of neighbors, community theater, neighborhood sound walks, neighborhood jam sessions, community film projects, poetry open mics, etc.

Community Public Safety: Examples of community public safety projects include public safety days that invite officers to your neighborhood, youth mentorship on public safety, safe routes for walking and biking, community safety audits, etc.

LOVE YOUR BLOCK GRANT GUIDELINES

Block Party Funds & Trailer Usage
The Love Your Block grant and Love Your Block trailer must be used for public, inclusive, community-based initiatives. Event/project hosts and organizers or their partners/vendors cannot include proselytizing, evangelizing, or political campaigning.

The Love Your Block funds and the Love Your Block trailer are intended for the use of residents of Lancaster City. If an applicant is not a resident of the city but their organization or event/project directly positively impacts city residents, they may be considered. Love Your Block funds and the Love Your Block trailer cannot be used to support efforts outside of Lancaster City.

Expectations
All Love Your Block recipients will be expected to submit a reporting form following the completion of your project, which should include documentation of the project and number of participants or attendees.

If you choose to request the Block Party Trailer, there will be a $25 refundable deposit to ensure it is not returned with damages or missing items. Failure to return the Trailer as it was delivered to you will result in forfeiting the deposit.

Block Party Trailer Process
To request the Block Party Trailer, Love Your Block applicants can indicate their interest on the Love Your Block application. It will be assigned on a first come, first serve basis with priority for resident-led events. Organizations can request the use of the trailer as well, but priority goes to residents. The Department of Neighborhood Engagement will manage the calendar for the Block Party Trailer and coordinate with the Department of Public Works on its availability for drop-off and pick-up.