SARAH BLANCHETTE
Four community groups in Jamaica Plain have been awarded Small Changes grants from the Boston Parks and Recreation Department, it was announced on July 22. A total of $29,000 will be distributed to Jamaica Plain Cooperatives, ESAC, Friends of Nira Rock and Starr Lane Community Park.
Jamaica Plain Cooperatives, an affordable housing development administered by the Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Development Corporation, has been awarded $10,000 to plant 117 shrubs at five co-ops located in JP: Rockvale Circle Cooperative, Forest Glen Cooperative, Catherine Gallagher Cooperative, Hyde Square Cooperative and JP Scattered Site. JP Cooperatives has 43 properties on 15 streets in JP.
ESAC received $9,500 for the installation of lighting at the Peace Garden at the corner of School and Washington streets in Egleston Square.
The $5,000 given to Friends of Nira Rock will be used to improve Nira Rock Urban Wild in Hyde Square.
Starr Lane Community Park, located between Starr Lane and Seaverns Avenue in Central JP, has been awarded $4,400 to help fund iron fencing at the park.
Twenty-seven Boston organizations from the Back Bay to Charlestown will share more than $158,000 in grant money in what is the fourth and final round of annual Small Changes grants to community groups.
Mayor Thomas Menino created the program four years ago from funds donated by the organizers of the Democratic National Convention here, with the goal of funding “beautification projects and enhancing the quality of life in Boston’s neighborhoods,” according to a Boston Park and Recreation Department press release.
The writer is a WriteBoston Caroline Knapp intern. She will be a senior at Odyssey High School in September.