Gary, IN – Under the leadership of Mayor Eddie Melton, the City of Gary is proud to announce its participation in the Love Your Block program, an initiative from the Bloomberg Center for Public Innovation at Johns Hopkins University. The city will receive $100,000 to support community-led revitalization projects, along with a Love Your Block fellow and a dedicated AmeriCorps VISTA (Volunteer in Service to America). Additionally, the city will benefit from technical assistance and training from civic engagement experts at Johns Hopkins.
“Garyites love their city, and we know that our residents have creative ideas about how we can clean up and beautify our public spaces,” said Mayor Melton. “Participating in the Love Your Block program gives our residents the opportunity to bring their best ideas to the table and fund projects that will make their fellow residents proud.”
Under Mayor Melton’s guidance, Gary is one of 16 newly selected U.S. cities to join the largest cohort in the history of the Love Your Block program. Since its inception in 2009, the program has mobilized nearly 36,000 volunteers to revitalize 3,800 community spaces, creating 765 art displays, cleaning up 116,000 square feet of graffiti, and removing 6.3 million pounds of trash in cities nationwide.
“Each Love Your Block city helps demonstrate one of the most important skills required to drive innovation in city halls – the ability to center resident voices,” said Amanda Daflos, Executive Director of the Center. “We are excited to partner with the City of Gary to build on the successful legacy of support from Bloomberg Philanthropies and Cities of Service and accelerate their efforts to partner with communities to drive local impact through funding, staff support, and public innovation expertise to help sustain resident-led change.”
The 2024-2026 cohort of Love Your Block cities includes Allentown, PA; Baltimore, MD; Charleston, SC; Columbia, MO; Dallas, TX; Durham, NC; Evanston, IL; Fall River, MA; Gary, IN; Little Rock, AR; Long Beach, CA; Louisville, KY; Reno, NV; Port St. Lucie, FL; Rapid City, SD; and San Bernardino, CA.–News Desk