City of Omaha awards more than $90,000 to 2023 Neighborhood Grants recipients

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) - The City of Omaha has announced the recipients of the 2023 Omaha Neighborhood Grants.

The program supports people who are making a difference in their communities and bringing people together.

The Union for Contemporary Art in Omaha is one of 23 recipients. The Union is aimed at supporting the community and local artists. One of its programs is the Abundance Garden.

“Throughout the summer, we harvest the food that’s grown here and then we share it with the community for free on Saturdays,” communications director Patrick Mainelli said.

Mainelli said the need for community support seems greater than ever.

“Last year, we really kind of hit the nail on the head, and every bit of food that we grew we shared with the community,” he said. “People took everything, and just as a space here, people are coming back and hanging out.”

Maintaining the Union for Contemporary Art isn’t cheap. Mainelli is grateful for the grant.

“A garden is really continuous and ongoing work,” he said. “The labor alone but also the material that it costs to keep this space running is significant. So, the grant is essential in helping us do that.”

Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert announced the grant recipients at Omaha’s City Hall on May 5th. Her announcement comes just days after the U.S. Surgeon General warned of a national epidemic of loneliness and encouraged cultivating a culture of connection.

Mayor Stothert says the Neighborhood Grants program does just that.

“Always in Omaha, Neb., we are looking for ways for our community and our neighbors to get together and achieve things together,” she said.

Mainelli agrees.

“It’s essential,” he said. “We can’t really be our true selves or our fullest selves unless we’re in community and growing with other people.”

In all, the City of Omaha awarded more than $91,000 in grants to neighborhood associations and community organizations.

GRANT RECIPIENTS

• AkSarBen Neighborhood Association awarded $3,483 for Schroeder Vogel Park Improvements-Phase 3
• Bemis Park awarded $5,000 for baseball diamond restoration
• BFF Inc. awarded $2,200 for Youth Outreach
• Elkhorn Garden Club awarded $399 for a Prairie Garden at Elkhorn Library
• Field Club North awarded $5,000 for picnic tables
• Free Farm awarded $5,000 farm stand updates
• Gifford Park Neighborhood awarded $3,630 block party capacity building
• Highlander Neighborhood Association awarded $5,000 for movie night at Highlander
• Hillsborough Neighborhood Association awarded $5,000 for parking lot lighting
• inCOMMON awarded $5,000 for a Hanscom Park mini-pitch project
• Joslyn Castle Neighborhood Association awarded $5,000 for synergy play structure surface
• Minne Lusa Neighborhood Association awarded $3,060 for a monthly neighborhood cleanup
• Morton Meadows Neighborhood Association awarded $5,000 for Mizpah Lodge community mural
• Omaha Coalition of Citizen Patrols awarded $3,729 for vehicle signs and training manuals
• Omaha Sunflower Co-operative awarded $4,180 for an Urban Farm
• Peony Park Neighborhood Association awarded $5,000 for raised garden beds
• Prairie Lane Neighborhood Association awarded $4,095 park tree replacement
• Rainbow Gardens awarded $3,789 for community building through gardening
• Seventy-Five North Revitalization Group awarded $3,798 Highlander Marketplace
• Sicula Italia Foundation awarded $5,000 for Cabrini Mosaic Project
• South Omaha Neighborhood Alliance awarded $5,000 for the Alebrijee Mural
• The Union for Contemporary Arts awarded $3,800 for their Abundance Garden
• Westwood Heights Neighborhood Association awarded $500 for Citizen Patrol

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