City to award $2,500 grants to 3 resident-led improvement projects in West Long Beach

The city will award mini-grants to three West Long Beach resident-led improvement projects benefitting air quality and transportation efficiency, city officials said Tuesday.

The $2,500 grants include projects to plant native trees along pedestrian paths and transit stops, create reflective art to encourage active transportation and give wildflower seed kits to local students, according to the city's Office of Civic Innovation.

"Love Your Block mini-grants empower West Long Beach residents to shape their community, inspire positive change, and foster neighborhood pride," 7th District Councilmember Roberto Uranga said in statement Tuesday. "This initiative unites us, advances environmental justice, and supports our vision for a healthier, more vibrant community."

These are the three mini-grant awardees, city officials said:

• Native Shadeways: Residents will plant native trees and shrubs along pedestrian pathways and transit stops to provide shade, improve walkability, reduce heat exposure and encourage the use of public transportation.
• Moving at the Speed of Community: An initiative combining public art, walking, biking and transit through community-designed reflective artwork, encouraging active transportation while strengthening neighborhood connections and promoting cleaner air.
• Native Seeds: A youth-focused environmental education initiative in which locals give native wildflower seed kits to nearby elementary school students, allowing families to support pollinators, expand neighborhood greenery and promote long-term environmental protection.

Officials with the Love Your Block team will work closely with the awardees to ensure the projects are implemented, connect them with relevant city resources and make sure they mesh with city policies and community goals, according to city officials.

This is the second round of Love Your Block mini-grants for Long Beach, according to the city. The first round, awarded in December 2025, split $12,500 among five projects that planted 50 trees, collected 27 vapes from high school students, removed more than 31,000 pounds of trash and created a new educational garden space, city officials said.

Love Your Block grants are funded by the Bloomberg Center for Public Innovation at Johns Hopkins University.

The grants support "cities in engaging with their residents to design, develop, and deliver small-scale neighborhood improvement projects that make their communities and cities better places to live," according to the center's website.

The program itself builds on Cities of Service, which was launched by then-New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg in 2009 to "engage residents as a leading voice in public problem-solving," according to the center.

In 2021, the Urban Institute published an evaluation of Love Your Block grants given to 10 cities three years earlier. According to the report, the mini-grants led to the removal of 299,997 pounds of trash, the cleaning of 1,040 acres of vacant grounds, the removal of 1,313 square feet of graffiti, the creation of 637 new features like pocket parks and the planting of 146 trees.

"Love Your Block’s emphasis on strong reciprocal relationships between citizens and city officials who work together closely at the neighborhood level can spark more integrated, citizen-centered reforms and innovations in city policy and practice," stated the report.

You can get more information on all West Long Beach Love Your Block projects here.