17 Omaha neighborhood organizations will receive grants

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) - Organizations throughout the Omaha metro will receive a grant as a part of a COVID-19 pandemic recovery project from Mayor Stothert.

There will be a second round of grants later on in the year for other neighborhood and community organizations. The 2021 Pandemic Recovery Priorities Checklist was announced by the mayor in January and all the grants total to $57,722.

“This grant program gives neighborhoods the opportunity to create programs that specifically address the needs of their neighbors, and this year, pandemic recovery is their priority,” said Mayor Jean Stothert. “A successful recovery will take all of us working together.”

According to the news release on Wednesday, the grant program was put on hold because of the financial impact of COVID on the city budget. These grants are given to qualified organizations in the neighborhood each spring and a committee reviewed the grant applicants this year.

The committee also recommended to Mayor Stothert.

The first round of the list grant recipients are:

City Sprouts - $5,000, Urban Food Production
The Union for Contemporary Arts - $5,000, Drive-thru food pantry and information on resources to provide additional food and rent assistance
Global Leadership Group - 4,800, Community Garden
Society of St. Vincent de Paul - $4,998, Sack lunch program. Holy Family Community Center Street Outreach
Dundee Memorial Park Neighborhood Association - $2,081, Garden to Table Dundee Neighborhood Gardening
Heart Ministry Center, INC, - $5,000, Food Pantry
Western Hills Neighborhood Association - $4,939, Backpack food program
Benson First Friday (BFF) - $3,000, COVID-19 Public Safety Initiative including PPE for volunteers and barricades and cones for a safe and socially distanced traffic plan at events
Joslyn Castle Neighborhood Association - $1,407, Free pantry for distribution PPE and hygiene items
Quarters Neighborhood Association - $1,750, Vaccine Awareness Campaign
North 24th Street Business Improvement District - $5,000, COVID-19 Public Service Announcement
Omaha Permaculture - $2,990, Urban Roots Community Garden
Field Club Homeowners League - $4,565, Neighborhood Market
Neighborhood Action and Fact - $2,000, PPE and educational material for a Community Block Party
Peony Park Neighborhood Association - $695, Food Pantry
Sunny Slope/Sunny View Neighborhood Association - $3,247, Socially distanced outdoor family movie event
Benson Neighborhood Association - $950, Pamphlets, promotion, and signage for self-guided tours of historic downtown Benson to bring people back to the area