IAT & Isles open grant applications

TheI Am Trenton Community Foundation and Isles invite applications for the 2023 Old Trenton Neighborhood Spring Grant Round, providing up to $8,000 for community projects, arts, culture, beautification, and business development in the neighborhood bordered by Perry Street, State Street, Route 1, and North Broad Street.

“We look forward to supporting residents putting their insightful ideas into action for our community,” said Raj Manimaran, I Am Trenton Community Foundation board president. “These grants will focus resources to enhance the beauty, safety and vibrancy of Old Trenton.”

The grant program, established by Isles, is funded by the New Jersey Neighborhood Revitalization Tax Credit Program. The program builds on priorities of the 2007 Old Trenton Neighborhood plan and the 2016 Creek to Canal Creative District plan (available at www.creektocanalcreative.org) to make Old Trenton a safe, active, and vibrant community, with a particular focus on reclaiming underused buildings and spaces, and supporting the arts as an agent of social change.

To be eligible for funding, projects must have a clear community or economic benefit, be non-discriminatory, and benefit the Old Trenton neighborhood and its residents. These grants only support projects physically located inside the Old Trenton neighborhood. Funded projects must focus on either business development or community investment.

IAT expects to offer two rounds of OTN grants in 2023, with applications due in February and October. Each round has a six-month timeframe for project activities.

Applications for this first round are due Wednesday, February 15, at 11:59 p.m. Submit all materials through the online form at iamtrenton.org/oldtrenton.

Grantees will be notified by March 23, with checks awarded at a celebratory gathering within the neighborhood on Saturday, April 1. Funded projects should take place between April 1 and September 30.

Applicants seeking business development funds must be located in the Old Trenton neighborhood, or must use grant funding to create a new location in the Old Trenton neighborhood. Priority is given to applications from entrepreneurs of color serving the Old Trenton community.

Applicants focused on community improvements may be located outside the neighborhood, but all activities must take place inside Old Trenton, and 75 percent of project beneficiaries must be residents of Old Trenton. Applicants should have