By Dianne Anderson

Odds are that the oodles of money flowing down each year at the city of Long Beach came and went by the time the community found out it was there.

But for those who act fast, more money is coming down once again. Microgrants are now available for Neighborhood Associations to apply with a fiscal agent, a 501c3 nonprofit, and work together to get up to $5,000.

Applications can now be submitted by email. Through the Neighborhood Micro Grant Program, funding is available within the city’s General Fund to host neighborhood events, like block parties, culturally affirming celebrations, food distributions or community gardens, and more.

Now that the program has expanded funding, Michelle Byerly said it may be better for the community, but she also wants to see CDBG funding open wider because it is difficult for smaller nonprofits to get that funding.

“CDBG’s don’t fund nonprofit organizations. This is one of our little soapboxes, there isn’t an open grant process. Other than neighborhood grants they have recently been doing, there isn’t a lot of other access for nonprofits,” said Michelle Byerly, Executive Director for The Nonprofit Partnership.

TNP SoCal supports a variety of ways to get funding into the community, including classes on how to write grants for beginners. They also provide strategic tools, training and advocacy for over 2,000 nonprofits locally, and in Southern California. Recently, the organization was added as a business navigator to provide one on one guidance for nonprofits, and they are also helping nonprofits with technical support.

“Long Beach Gives is opening up again, nonprofits can start applying if they’re serving Long Beach. For Long Beach Gives, we give capacity building support and they use the platform to raise money in September,” she said.

Located at Long Beach City College Campus, TNP has served locally for 30 years to increase awareness of available grants for nonprofits in the city and throughout Los Angeles County.

Lately, she is also excited about partnerships with smaller or emerging organizations, including work with USC Children’s Hospital initiative that supports parent-led organizations that deal with disabilities.

“They’re looking at potentially separating these organizations by cultural background, maybe Spanish-speaking or Black-led organizations to provide a little more culturally relevant information for their organizations,” she said.

At the city’s health department, she said the barriers during the pandemic with contracting and the way Grant Recovery Act funding was given out was a concern, and she still feels the issue deserves attention.

“We did great during the pandemic. Can we keep that going? Let’s not lose all the things we did,” she said.

The city recognizes nearly 120 neighborhood associations that have provided contact information. There is no limit on how many applications neighborhood associations can submit for the Neighborhood Micro-Grant Program. However, the city said that each grant application must be for different neighborhood events or projects.

Elizabeth Weithers said recent data gathering will inform the city’s action plan draft on activities to be funded, available for viewing at the start of June. From there, the action plan goes to the federal government HUD, where the city of Long Beach receives its direct funding.

HUD funded activities follow priorities established in their five-year strategic plan completed two years ago, which is focused on affordable housing, strengthening neighborhoods and removing blight, and reducing homelessness.

“There’s not a lot of funding but what we have for low income communities, we try to ensure that it is being spent in the highest need areas designated by HUD,” said Weithers, operations officer at the city’s Community Development Department.

Recently, the community participated in an update on high priority concerns for individual zip codes, and whether those concerns are still valid from the original action draft.

Funding, which starts October 1, is based on congressional allocations. From the past two years, she said they can estimate the amount of general CDBG and ESG funds — the emergency grant for homeless services, but Congress has reduced the HOME grant by 70 percent.

“For all three grants, it’s about $8 million and CDBG is about $5 million. As it’s decreasing, it’s important for us to hone in. Affordable housing and ending homelessness were the top ones [concerns] last time,” she said.

Rick de la Torre, spokesperson for the city, said the HUD-funded ESG (Emergency Solutions Grant) has competitive grants for agencies assisting with homelessness.

Also available, he said the Community Development Department’s Home Improvement Roof Grant Program provides eligible owner-occupied, single-family residence property owners with up to $20,000 in grant funding for the rehabilitation or replacement of their home.

To learn more about competitive grants to assist with homelessness, see https://www.longbeach.gov/homelessness/Long-Beach-continuum-of-care/.

Micro-Grant applications can be emailed to NSB@longbeach.gov or hand delivered by appointment only to the Housing & Neighborhood Services Bureau located at 411 W. Ocean Blvd., 3rd Floor. Submissions via email are highly encouraged.

To learn more about the Micro-Grant program, see
https://www.longbeach.gov/lbcd/hn/nmgp

For roof repair funding, https://www.longbeach.gov/lbcd/hn/hirgp/

For TNP Socal, see https://tnpsocal.org/