Seattle Department of Neighborhoods has announced the 2010 Neighborhood Matching Fund Small and Simple Award winners. Recipients of the award will receive up to $20,000 in funding to improve their neighborhoods and communities through various projects. This year’s award winners will use funding to train youth in violence alternatives, engage at-risk and under-served students through mural creation, create safer bike circulation systems, and much more.

Small and Simple Projects Fund activities may be physical projects as well as less tangible but equally significant educational, cultural, and relationship-strengthening activities. The overall goal of the projects is to build stronger and healthier communities through driven participation centered on a neighborhood or community.

“Partnerships between city and community are more important than ever in this economy. The Neighborhood Matching Fund program continues to support the many projects that are so valuable to the communities in Seattle. This is a very powerful collaboration between the City and community that we hope continues to grow” said Stella Chao, Seattle Department of Neighborhoods Director.

The Neighborhood Matching Fund (NMF) program was created in 1988. All projects are initiated, planned and implemented by community members in partnership with the City. Every award is matched by neighborhoods’ or communities’ resources of volunteer labor, donated materials, donated professional services or cash. Since the program was created 22 years ago, the Neighborhood Matching Fund has awarded over $42 million with a community match of more than $64 million. Projects have involved a total of nearly 65,000 volunteers who have donated over 400,000 work hours.

The last round of applications accepted for Small and Simple funds is due on July 12, 2010. To apply or learn more about the funds, visit http://seattle.gov/neighborhoods/nmf/smallandsimple.htm.

Here are the project accepted from West Seattle.

Delridge
South Seattle Youth Summit - Youth Media Institute
The Youth Media Institute, in partnership with the Youngstown Cultural Arts Center, will engage up to 250 South Seattle youth and several community organizations to empower young people and address issues that affect local neighborhoods. This project will be comprised of two principal phases: a large youth summit, and the succeeding youth-led community projects.
$48,000.00
$15,000.00

Delridge
HP 3 (Healthy Parks, Healthy People, Health Planet)
HP3 is an environmental adventure relay crisscrossing the Delridge community designed to create awareness of, and foster action on, environmental issues in the Delridge community. Involving a broad cross section of local residents, this competitive/educational event is designed to increase stewardship of the green spaces and creeks in Delridge.
$48,500.00
$20,000.00

Delridge
Growing Food - Growing Communities - Community Harvest of Southwest Seattle
Our project seeks to create a more vibrant, connected community through building a community demonstration garden at St. James Church, and providing a series of free comprehensive organic gardening classes. Class attendees will form garden mentor teams, helping others to start food growing gardens in their neighborhoods.
$24,780.00
$17,000.00

Delridge
Healthy Delridge, Healthy You 2010 - TEAM Delridge & Youngstown Cultural Arts Center
A community celebration with family-friendly and interactive creative arts workshops, activities and a resource fair to stimulate awareness and dialogue around issues of health, safety and active lifestyles.
$10,000.00
$14,500.00

Delridge
Chief Sealth Mural Project - West Seattle YMCA @ Chief Sealth
This project will paint one large mural on plywood to be displayed at the new Chief Sealth High School. It will engage at-risk and under-served students as volunteer artists, spending their after-school hours in a productive and creative environment with a professional artist.
$15,840.00
$5,000.00

Delridge
SW Promotores
A combination of leadership and parent involvement will offer a space to empower parents by creating community in the school and by learning from each other. Leaders will help to facilitate transition into the cluster Roxhill-Denny- Chief Sealth-community college.

West Seattle
West Seattle Tool Library - Sustainable West Seattle
Sustainable West Seattle plans to equip and manage a pay-what-you-can community tool library on the South Seattle Community College campus that will empower community users and partner organizations with access to a range of useful tools, literature, and related expertise.
$22,700.00
$20,000.00

West Seattle
Seal Sitters Infrastructure Project - Seal Sitters
The Seal Sitter Project is intended to develop the infrastructure, capabilities, skills, environmental awareness and community outreach necessary to promote the protection and conservation of marine mammals surrounding the City of Seattle.