Aurora announces recipients of $60K in neighborhood grants

AURORA | More than a dozen community groups will have the City of Aurora’s help beautifying their neighborhoods this summer thanks to the Neighborhood Improvement Grant program.

Grantees are receiving a total of $60,000, which must be spent by October. Applicants were asked in January to submit proposals for projects that would “improve a neighborhood’s physical condition, enhance pride and identity, increase neighborhood communication, and bring new assets to the neighborhood that foster gathering and positive experiences.”

Winning projects in 2022 include:

• Del Mar Parkway Neighborhood / Rebel Marketplace — Ward I — expanding events at the local Rebel Marketplace farmers market, including giving away school supplies, spotlighting local artists and hosting gardening workshops.
• Northwest Aurora and Del Mar Neighborhoods — Ward I — renting a U-Haul truck and a roll-off dumpster and cleaning up local alleys with the help of volunteers.
• Great Plains Lifestyle Community — Ward II — landscaping work, including planting wildflowers and native grasses.
• Highlands Park East Neighborhood Association — Ward III — renting roll-off dumpsters so residents can dispose of used items and possibly recycle old bicycles and furniture.
• Sunridge Patio Homes — Ward III — enhancing the landscaping at the corner of South Evanston Way and South Elkhart Street by replacing the existing sod with drought-resistant plants, rocks and mulch.
• Village East Neighborhood Association — Ward IV — hiring a trash truck to collect unwanted large trash items from neighbors and spread awareness of the neighborhood association.
• The Shores — Ward IV — adding landscaping and plants at the community’s three entrances.
• Meadowood Neighborhood Association — Ward V — renting trucks to accept residents’ trash and scrap metal, and shred any sensitive documents. 
• Mission Viejo — Ward V — Clearing weeds, debris and trash and adding new rocks along East Quincy Avenue between South Nucla Street and West Toll Gate Creek Trail.
• Pioneer Hills — Ward V — adding landscaping, including mulch, plants and decorative rocks, in the Pioneer Hills community in south Aurora.
• Sunflower Condominiums — Ward V — redoing the landscaping on the island of greenery at the entrance to the condominiums to include more drought-resistant plants and decorative rocks.
• Ponderosa Ridge Residential HOA — Ward VI — installing three community message boards to improve communication among residents.
• Saddle Ridge Golf Course Homes — Ward VI — building a canopy or gazebo cover above a neighborhood gathering spot at 22009 East Calhoun Place.
• Shadow Creek Neighborhood — Ward VI — xeriscaping the neighborhood entrance roundabout on Tibet Way.

While the application period for 2022 is now closed, the city offers other grants to help neighborhoods host clean-up events and block parties, print fliers and more. Application information is available at AuroraGov.org/NeighborhoodGrants.