ST. LOUIS, Mo. – The Neighborhood Leadership Academy has awarded 20 mini-grants totaling $46,805 to groups across Missouri. The grants, ranging from $380 to $2,500, support neighborhood initiatives including community gardens in schools and parks, neighborhood gatherings to build community and programs to improve the mental and physical health of neighborhood residents.

The Neighborhood Leadership Academy (NLA) is part of Creating Whole Communities, a collaboration of University of Missouri Extension and University of Missouri–St Louis. The 10-week training program is designed to equip participants with the knowledge and resources to be effective leaders in their communities, says Tasnim Haq, program manager for Creating Whole Communities. The mini-grants fund improvement projects that participants develop during the NLA. Financial support for the mini-grants is provided in part from the Missouri Foundation for Health.

"We are excited to support neighborhood leaders in making their projects become a reality, creating positive change at the grassroots level, and, ultimately, building the communities that they envision for themselves,” Haq says.

NLA focuses on bringing together neighborhood leaders from across the state of Missouri to learn the skills and build the networks necessary to create healthy, vibrant and whole communities, she says. For more information, visit cwc.umsl.edu/nla.

Registration for the 2023 NLA opens this summer.

Winners of the Neighborhood Leadership Academy mini-grants: