$1M In Neighborhood Equity, Opportunity Grants Go To 13 Projects

NEW HAVEN, CT —Last Friday, officials, residents and business owners gathered to celebrate the nearly $1 million in new neighborhood commercial district funding through the City of New Haven’s Neighborhood Equity & Opportunity Challenge Program.

As a part of the program, a total of 13 projects were selected to receive grants with awards ranged from $21,000 to $100,000.

The grants support a wide array of commercial and community initiatives that include a community health fair, neighborhood streetscape and infrastructure improvements, a community bike workshop, new equipment for a neighborhood athletic program, and an open-air market offering participants farming and entrepreneurial training as well as a venue to sell their products.

NOEC is the latest example of the City leveraging its American Rescue Plan (ARP) funding to promote equitable investment and post-pandemic economic recovery, particularly in historically under-resourced and under-represented neighborhoods that were disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. Successful applications were those that improved the livability, equity and vibrancy of their neighborhoods, among other criteria.

Other considerations included how well proposals aligned with the city’s equity and anti-racism priorities, including New Haven’s Cultural Equity Plan which aims to support wealth creation within the city’s Black and Brown communities.

Last Friday's event was hosted by the Grand Avenue Special Services District (GASSD), a NEOC grantee, and was held in front of the former Green Cleaners site at 233 Grand Ave. The building fell into disrepair and had a fire after the previous owner passed away about 10 years ago. After spending several years working through the complicated acquisition and remediation of the site, Grand Avenue business owner Musa Ugurlu is now constructing a new building where he plans to relocate and expand his business, Turq Cell, and also develop office space on the upper floor.

"City leaders hope the infusion of new funding into the local economy through programs such as NEOC will help enable other businesses and community members to follow Ugurlu’s example," a news release from Mayor Justin Elicker reads.