[ad_1]
The City of Aurora received 25 grants worth approximately $7.14 million during 2023.
Grant writer Julie Frankino said she evaluated more than 280 grants last year and applied for 44 of them. Of those, 25 were given to the city.
Franchino recently spoke to the Aurora City Council about the importance of grants.
“Grants exist because we can’t do everything on our own,” she said.
The city received grants for everything from technology to park development to police training to museums.
Among the grants, the city received $25,000 from the Community Tree Initiative to add trees to the downtown landscape and $1 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for reforestation of the city.
The city received $895,890 from the Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Safety Fund and used it to purchase body cameras for police officers.
It also received about $500,000 from the Illinois Housing Development Authority to help demolish abandoned properties and clean up nearby junk.
For 2024, Franchino has evaluated more than 130 grants and applied for 15 of them, worth a total of $10.5 million.
So far, the city has secured a $600,000 grant from the Open Space Land Acquisition and Development Program (OSLAD) for the renovation and redevelopment of Garfield Park on the East Side through 2024.
slord@tribpub.com
[ad_2]
Source link
