Small & Simple Grants

HAND offers two types of Small & Simple Grants

 

1. The Small & Simple Grant to Control Invasive Plant Species (SSCIPS)

This program funds efforts to remove invasive plants throughout your neighborhood. Grant monies can be used to purchase tools and supplies or to rent equipment to help remove invasive plants, as well as to purchase native plants to replace the invasive species that have been removed.

This grant program is available through a partnership between HAND and Monroe County Identify and Reduce Invasive Species (MC-IRIS). Each year MC-IRIS issues the Reduce One Invasive Species Challenge. In 2023 the Challenge again focuses on Callery Pear (also known as Bradford Pear). A SSCIPS grant can be used to take up the Challenge and help to eliminate this invasive tree from your neighborhood.

 

 

2. The general Small & Simple Grant (S&S) for all other categories

The purpose of this grant is to promote neighborhood community building activities with a demonstrated neighborhood benefit.

Here are some project ideas:

• Sponsor your own neighborhood cleanup.
• Hold a neighborhood party, best community builder ever!
• Add sign toppers to your street signs to identify your neighborhood.
• Prepare "Welcome to the Neighborhood" packages, filled with useful items everyone needs when moving in! 
• Print and mail your neighborhood newsletter.
• Install dog waste bag containers, for those who forget a bag!
• Improve an area by landscaping with native plantings or trees.
• Install a bench.

 

BOTH Small & Simple Grant Programs:

• Have a combined annual maximum of $500 per neighborhood (can be divided between the 2 grant types, or for multiple smaller grants within one category), 
• Do not require a monetary match from the neighborhood, and
• Have a rolling deadline. Applications will be accepted between January 3 through September 1, 2023, or until all grant funds have been awarded.

 

If your organization has an idea for which you are interested in applying for a Small & Simple Grant, contact

Angela Van Rooy

Neighborhood Services Program Manager

angela.vanrooy@bloomington.in.gov

812-349-3505.

 

 

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Small & Simple Grant to Control Invasive Plant Species (SSCIPS)

The 2023 Small & Simple Grant to Control Invasive Plant Species application form is entirely electronic. You will need a Google account to submit the application. This allows you to upload files, receive a copy of your application, and edit your application after submission.

Please read through the grant guidelines in their entirety before beginning to fill out the electronic form. You will be asked to upload four files to your application; please have these completed and ready for upload before you begin to complete the form. You will need:

• a one page budget,
• a project narrative of no more than 250 words,
• an Attestation of Neighborhood Inclusivity, signed by a neighborhood official, and
• a completed Neighborhood Participation Pledges form.

 

 

START with these guidelines for step-by-step instructions about the application process. 

 

If your application is granted:

• The individual or organization who will seek reimbursement for grant-related purchases must complete Vendor Documents, as required by the City Controller's Office.
• Participants must complete these waivers. Please see instructions in section V. Grant Requirements in the SSCIPS grant guidelines.
  • Individual Property Owners' Permission
  • Waiver, Release and Hold-Harmless Agreement
• Schedule a workshop with MC-IRIS volunteers to learn how to identify and reduce invasive plants.
• The Neighborhood Project Coordinator must maintain a list of volunteers and a tally of yard waste bags and/or brush bundles disposed of over the course of the project. Please use this form to submit this information as part of your final report. 

 

SSCIPS grants awarded in 2022:

• Prospect Hill Neighborhood Association

 

 

SSCIPS grants awarded in 2021:

• Blue Ridge Neighborhood Association

• Elm Heights Wintercreeper Project

• Arden Place Neighborhood Association

• W 11th St Neighborhood

Blue Ridge neighbors gather for an on-site workshop with MC-IRIS volunteer, Gillian Field, who teaches participants how to identify and reduce invasive plants.

 

 

 

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General Small & Simple Grant (SS)

The 2023 Small & Simple Grant application form is entirely electronic. You will need a Google account to submit the application. This allows you to upload files, receive a copy of your application, and edit your application after submission. Please read through the application in its entirety before beginning to fill out the electronic form. You will be asked to upload four files to your application; please have these completed and ready for upload before you begin to complete the form. You will need:

 

• a project narrative of no more than 250 words,
• a simple budget,
• an Attestation of Neighborhood Inclusivity, signed by a neighborhood official, and
• if applicable, Volunteer Commitment Forms, completed and signed by each volunteer.

 

START with these guidelines for step-by-step instructions about the application process

 

If your application is granted:

• The individual or organization who will seek reimbursement for grant-related purchases must complete Vendor Documents, as required by the City Controller's Office. If you will be working with a vendor, and you prefer that HAND pay the vendor directly, please contact Angela Van Rooy at angela.vanrooy@bloomington.in.gov.
• Each volunteer must complete a Waiver, Release and Hold-Harmless Agreement and submit it to the Neighborhood Project Coordinator.
• The Neighborhood Project Coordinator will maintain a list of volunteers and their activities, and will report these on the Volunteer Hours Computation Sheet as part of the final project report.

 

 

Small & Simple grants awarded in 2022:

• Bloomington Housing Authority Residents Council - event tables
• Bryan Park Neighborhood - Beatles sing-along
• Covenanter Neighborhood Association - street sign toppers
• Crawford Homes - resident hygiene pantry
• Grandview Hills Neighborhood Association - bat boxes
• Maple Heights Neighborhood Association - meeting yard signs and tool share equipment
• Park Ridge Neighborhood Association - meeting and event signs
• Park Ridge East Neighborhood Association - street sign toppers

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Small & Simple grants awarded in 2021:

• Park Ridge East Neighborhood Association - traffic calming signs

• McDoel Gardens Neighborhood Association - neighborhood logo design and stickers

• Mayfair HOA - landscaping around neighborhood entrance sign

• Prospect Hill Neighborhood Association - publication and mailing of neighborhood association newsletter

• Bentley Court HOA - message center kiosk

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Are you having issues with flooding or poor drainage on your property?

You may be interested is applying for a Residential Stormwater Grant through the City of Bloomington Utilities Department. The program provides funding for single-family homes on private property to manage drainage/erosion concerns with green infrastructure projects such as rain gardens, dry creek beds, and more.

 

For questions please contact: 

 

Kriste Lindberg

Residential Stormwater Grants Coordinator

stormwater@bloomington.in.gov

(812) 349-3617