Housing & Neighborhoods: 2024 Community Request Info

The Community Request window for projects using FY24 Doing Good-Housing & Neighborhoods funds is OPEN.

The Office of Durham and Community Affairs intends to support the 14 partner neighborhoods within the Duke-Durham Neighborhood Partnership, focusing on collaborating with their neighborhood associations and addressing key needs and priorities articulated in a facilitated consensus process. Leaders of neighborhood associations use these priorities to decide how they can use a one-time allocation of these specific Doing Good funds

The Doing Good-Housing & Neighborhoods Fund specifically provides grants to eligible neighborhoods for selected projects that address identified needs under the following categories: Cultural Heritage & Preservation, Environmental Justice, Housing Justice, Intra-Community Development, Neighborhood Networking, Neighbors Helping Neighbors, Political Activism, Supportive & Safe Communities, and Traffic & Pedestrian Safety.

---

How to Apply

Community members who are part of our 14 partner neighborhoods can request Duke Doing Good funding by reaching out to their DDNP staff point of contact with their idea(s). Typically, partner neighbors will then complete an action planning worksheet document (first page) and an action planning budget spreadsheet outlining the specific details for a community project that aligns with at least one of the key needs and priorities. 

Annual Grant Cycle

The grant cycle window for 2023-2024 funding is now open and will close on February 16, 2024. This year, applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis starting in October, and applicants will be notified of decisions within 6 weeks (30 business days). Recipients must complete the evaluation sections on the action planning worksheet document (second page) by June 30, 2024.

Award Amounts

Grants range from $500 to $2500 for projects without partnerships. Requests that include partnerships with non-profit organizations, professional artists, legacy partners, and/or multiple neighborhood associations can exceed $2500, depending on the number of individuals impacted and the indicated outcomes of the project(s).

---

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility for grants to neighborhood associations will be considered based on the following criteria:

• Must be a DDNP Neighborhood (Burch Avenue, Bragtown, Crest Street, Lakewood Park, Lyon Park, Morehead Hill, Old West Durham, Southside, Trinity Heights, Trinity Park, Tuscaloosa-Lakewood, Walltown, Watts-Hillandale, West End)
• Must have evidence of ongoing engagement across multiple demographics (EX: including elders and youth, including new and legacy residents, including homeowners and tenants)
• Must have decision-making body within Neighborhood Association that consists of at least three people who are unrelated and in different households.
• Must complete the Neighborhood Action Planning Worksheet Document & Budget Spreadsheet
• Must address identified needs under at least one of the following categories: Cultural Heritage & Preservation, Environmental Justice, Housing Justice, Intra-Community Development, Neighborhood Networking, Neighbors Helping Neighbors, Political Activism, Supportive Safe Communities, and Traffic & Pedestrian Safety.

Additional Criteria for grants to neighborhood associations with partners:

• Must have evidence of status (professional work using reference to physical or digital portfolio for artist, 501(c)3 determination letter for nonprofit 
• Must be able to provide some kind of invoice or letter that explains scope of work, including cost for services rendered 
• Must submit a W9 to be completed on the latest version issued by the IRS as found on the www.irs.gov website

Grant Amounts & Partnership Opportunities

Requests from neighbors who choose to work only within their respective neighborhood (without other partners) should range from $500 to $2500. Requests that include partnerships with non-profit organizations, professional artists, legacy partners, and/or multiple neighborhood associations can exceed $2500, depending on the number of individuals impacted and the indicated outcomes of the project (s). Generally speaking, requests with one or more collaborations will be prioritized and given additional consideration for higher award amounts.

In accordance with efforts to address DDNP infrastructure priorities, as referenced in the Strategic Community Impact Plan, neighborhoods are strongly encouraged to work creatively with local professional artists and area arts organizations, with legacy nonprofit partners who are working closely with and making positive impact on neighbors, and/or with other fellow partner neighborhood associations. The intention here is to maximize community-driven impact, nurturing broader infrastructural development (arts, transit, environmental sustainability, and more) while also remaining aligned with the community-identified categories that surfaced during the most recent visioning workshop and consensus process.

Process

Each neighborhood association can identify up to three distinct projects in their request in alignment with the aforementioned key categories and is encouraged to work with other partner neighborhoods, local professional artists, and legacy nonprofit organizations. Neighbors should work amongst themselves and with partners accordingly to complete the Action Planning Worksheet document and Action Planning Budget spreadsheet and submit them accordingly to their DDNP staff point of contact. 

Depending on the project details, requests are categorized as “standard” or “strategic” — standard requests are submitted by the partner neighbor directly and move forward as described above while strategic requests are submitted by the DDNP staff point of contact discretionally. In an effort to reduce limiting or hindering community projects that align with partners’ key needs and priorities, strategic requests are made when there are exceptional circumstances that make a standard request less feasible. 

Once awarded, neighborhood associations can decide to have funds set aside and managed by their DDNP staff point of contact or to have funds dispersed directly to a professional artist or a registered 501c3 organization upon completion of additional paperwork (W9 form, ICC form, etc.). Neighborhood associations DO NOT have to be registered 501c3. Again, the intention here is to allow DDNP neighborhood associations more equitable access to the Doing Good funds, based on varying levels of capacity and structure.

Grant funds may not be used to:

• Reimburse travel mileage, gift cards, or direct payment of an individual neighbor
• Fund any organization that discriminates on the basis of age, gender, race, ethnicity, religion, disability, sexual orientation, national origin, or political affiliation.
• Support or coordinate religious activities; however, religious institutions may partner with neighborhood associations for nonsectarian projects.

---

For more information on community requests via Duke’s Doing Good-Housing & Neighborhoods Fund and the DDNP, please reach out via email to the DDNP staff point of contact, Jesse Huddleston.