City of Bowling Green, Kentucky

The Select Neighborhood Action Program (SNAP) is helping neighborhood organizations implement strategies to create healthy neighborhoods, as defined below:

Characteristics of a Healthy Neighborhood (PDF)

Any neighborhood organization located in the city of Bowling Green that meets eligibility and matching fund requirements may apply for SNAP funding. For the purposes of SNAP, a neighborhood organization is defined as:

• A neighborhood watch group;
• A neighborhood association or other group of residents in a geographical area of single family and/or multi-family residences;
• A homeowner or condo association; or
• A tenant group or resident council in a multi-unit apartment complex or mobile home park.

Neighborhood Eligibility Requirements

• Your neighborhood must be located within the City limits of Bowling Green.
• Your neighborhood must register annually with the Neighborhood Services Office. A registration form is included in the application packet.
• Your neighborhood must be active, meeting at least once per year.
• Your group must have been in existence for at least six months OR must have met at large within six months prior to application.
• Your group must have been represented at a designated Neighborhood Training Session (see list below).
• The boundaries of your neighborhood organization must include at least 20 households to qualify for a full grant award. Applicants representing neighborhoods with fewer than 20 households qualify for a fraction equal to their number of households.

Kinds of Projects

• Neighborhood Organizing
• Neighborhood Beautification
• Capital Purchase Projects
• Neighborhoods & Schools Celebrating Partnerships
• Professional Services
• Organizational Development
• Organizational Triage & Trouble-Shooting

Project Restrictions

• No late applications will be considered for funding.
• Applicants may submit more than one project for consideration, but funding of multiple projects is not guaranteed. Additional projects may be undertaken to boost matching requirements, increase neighborhood participation, or to employ a complementary “Strategy for Creating Healthy Neighborhoods.”
• Grant request must be for a minimum of $500, maximum award of $7500.
• One year timeline for project completion
• Up to $500 may be requested for legal and/or accounting fees related to incorporation and/or establishing nonprofit, tax-exempt status. No match is required for this type of project.
• Up to $500 may be requested for a Neighborhood Organizing project, with no match required. A request meeting this description is also exempted from the first time/repeat applicant rule outlined above.
• A 20% match of the requested award amount is required. Match can be met through cash, in-kind donation, or volunteer labor valued at $15 per hour. No match is required for a a project related to incorporation/non-profit or tax exempt status, or for a Neighborhood Organizing project equal to or less than $500.
• Project location must be within the city limits of Bowling Green.
• Project activity must be fully compliant with the City of Bowling Green Code of Ordinances, Kentucky Revised Statutes, and all applicable codes, policies and procedures of the City of Bowling Green.
• Landscape and/or signage projects on right-of-way require approval by Public Works. Additional forms are required for these projects and must be submitted with the SNAP application.

Neighborhood Training Sessions (2019)

• We are Bowling Green: Speak Out & Community Forum
  Hosted by Kentucky Poor People's Campaign at Mount Zion Baptist Church, 175 Graham Drive. Speak Out event takes place Monday, April 29 from 5:00-8:00 p.m. and Community Forum takes place Thursday, May 9 from 6:00-8:00 p.m. See more details on their Facebook event page.
• Neighborhood University Session: Building Community in Bowling Green
  Monday, May 20 at 6:00-7:30 p.m. at NCS Community Room, 707 E. Main Avenue. Please pre-register for this session: email karen.foley@bgky.org or call 270-393-3674
• Neighborhood University Session: Understanding Bowling Green's Neighborhood Ordinances
  Tuesday, June 11 at 3:00-4:30 p.m. at NCS Community Room, 707 E. Main Avenue. Please pre-register for this session: email karen.foley@bgky.org or call 270-393-3674
• Neighborhood University Session: All About SNAP
  Tuesday, June 4, 2019: 5:00-6:30 p.m. at the NCS Community Room, 707 E. Main Avenue. Please pre-register for this session: email karen.foley@bgky.org or call 270-393-3674.
• Neighborhood University Session: All About SNAP
  Tuesday, June 11, 2019: 5:00-6:30 p.m. at the NCS Community Room, 707 E. Main Avenue. Please pre-register for these sessions: email karen.foley@bgky.org or call 270-393-3674.
• Opportunity Zone & Brownsfield Redevelopment Workshop
  Sponsored by City of Bowling Green held February 26, 2019. at Sloan Convention Center
• BGCAN Spring Rally of the Neighborhoods
  Thursday, May 30 at 6:00 p.m.,at NCS Community Room, 707 E. Main Avenue. No RSVP required.
• Over 50 Citizen's Academy
  Offered weekdays March 7-13, 2019
• The Academy for New Americans
  Offered monthly, February through June, 2019
• Citizen's Police Academy
  Offered Thursday nights for 10 weeks, Fall 2018 or Spring 2019
• BGCAN Winter Rally of the Neighborhoods
  Tuesday, January 29, 2019
• BGCAN Fall Rally of the Neighborhoods
  Monday, October 29, 2018
• Regional Neighborhood Network Conference
  In Dayton, OH: October 4-6, 2018
• WKU Society for Lifelong Learning: Discovering Bowling Green
  Offered Spring, 2019

Funding Decisions

All SNAP applications will be processed by the Neighborhood Services Office and evaluated by a review panel. Funding decisions will take these considerations into account: application completeness, neighborhood participation, community benefit, and project quality. Guidelines and funding ratios are subject to change, based on funding availability. Following review and evaluation of all eligible SNAP proposals, the Neighborhood Services Office will offer a recommendation for funding to the Board of Commissioners, who will make final approval of grant awards.