Asset-Based Community Development in Savannah: How 'Grants for Blocks' Catalyzed Civic Empowerment
Channel: Open Savannah
Date: 2018-05-25

Starting with nothing more than a $20,000 grant from The Rockefeller Foundation in 1993, the City of Savannah's "Grants for Blocks" program formally divided the city into 105 distinct geographic neighborhoods, with the most economically disfranchised neighborhoods eligible each year to apply for up to $500 annually for projects that improved the community.

Over time, the program morphed from merely a way to improve streetscapes to a catalytic force for civic empowerment and restoring community pride. It also kickstarted the formation of a robust network of neighborhood associations, 65 of which continue to hold regular meetings today despite the grant program having been ended By the late '90s, Savannah, under the leadership of Assistant City Manager Henry Moore, had