Last night at our neighborhood council meeting, we were introduced to the City’s new Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Neighborhood Project Menu.

The CDBG program provides funds to neighborhoods for community-oriented improvement projects based on income. Traditionally, Southgate has not received any CDBG funds. However, a new dispersement formula put in place a few years ago results in us now receiving about $1800 annually. The minimum cost of a CDBG project is $10,000, so we don’t get enough to do anything with that money except donate it other neighborhoods for their projects.

This year, instead of directing the money at a neighborhood, the City has developed another option called the Neighborhood Project Menu to provide area non-profits the opportunity to have their projects considered for CDBG funding. If you follow the links on the Project Menu document, you will see a collection of local non-profit projects vetted by the City to meet HUD requirements for use of CDBG funds.

Please review the list of projects and come prepared to vote for where SNC’s $1800 should go at the next neighborhood council meeting on December 14th.