San Bernardino announces winners in Love Your Block program

Eleven local neighborhood groups, community groups and non-profit organizations were announced as winners in San Bernardino’s “Love Your Block” program.

The winners will receive $18,000 to complete community-based improvement projects with the top prize of $5,000 going to Tawyna Rhoades-Hensley for her “Unity in the Game: A Mural for Western Regional Little League” proposal.

“The proposals were absolutely amazing,” said San Bernardino Mayor Helen Tran. “It is so inspiring to see this much pride in our community and Love Your Block gave all of these groups an opportunity to make a difference in San Bernardino.”

The grant recipients were selected from amongst fifteen finalists who all made “Shark Tank” style pitches to a group of community judges on Saturday, April 19. The winning proposals were announced at an event on Tuesday, April 22 in conjunction with the sixteen other Love Your Block communities across the United States.

The top award will help fund an inspiring mural entitled “Unity in the Game,” to be painted by local artist Darren Villegas at Al Houghton Stadium, where the baseball and softball Little League World Series Western Regionals take place every year. The mural will feature baseball and softball players from the western region along with iconic landscapes and cultural elements representing the region, symbolizing unity and teamwork.

One of the presentations that had people buzzing came from three young members of Girl Scout Troup 1134. They were seeking funds to build a ”Little Free Library” at Blair Park.

“You could not deny the girls’ enthusiasm for their project,” added Tran. “And they also had detailed timelines, budgets, and goals. Those girls were incredible. It made my heart melt.”

Earlier this year, the City of San Bernardino, along with fifteen other cities across the nation, launched the “Love Your Block” initiative. The program, in partnership with the Bloomberg Center of Public Innovation, offered mini grants ranging from $1,000 to $5,000 to neighborhood, student, and civic groups or individuals to organize local art projects and community cleanups.

The City received 43 applications.

San Bernardino plans on holding a second Love Your Block competition later this year in search of community-based projects celebrating the upcoming 100th anniversary of the Historic Route 66.

The Love Your Block program was established in 2009 by the Bloomberg Center of Public Innovation to fund resident-led neighborhood revitalization projects in U.S. cities. The City of San Bernardino is one of only sixteen cities in the nation and two in California that were selected last year to be a part of the program.

Local partners include AmeriCorps Vista, Music Changing Lives, Making Hope Happen Foundation, and Neighborhood Partnership Housing Services.

For more information, visit the City’s Love Your Block website at https://www.sbcity.org/1636/Love-Your-Block