GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The city of Grand Rapids is looking for proposals on how to implement projects brought fourth by its participatory budget program.
The two projects come from suggestions made back in 2022 when the city asked residents to propose ideas on how they wanted money from the American Rescue Plan Act to be spent.
"The money doesn't do any good if the money is not being invested back into the community," said Doug Matthews, assistant city manager in Grand Rapids.
The city now seeks to get two of those proposed projects going. To do so, those community organizations need to propose how they would implement the two projects.
One is a mental health community education and support program in the second ward. The other is community-centered violence reduction strategies in the third ward.
"We want to find a way where we can invest in local community organizations, to try some things that otherwise we might not have been able to try," said Matthews. "This is an opportunity to take a look at that scope and decide whether or not there are some things that you can do that would benefit the community."
Matthews said the entire participatory budget project has been a truly democratic process that has allowed the city to look at new ways of thinking.
"The process of getting all of those ideas from the community has given us a lot more to think about in the way that we might provide services or seek out services for the community in the future," he said.
Proposals for the mental health project are due by April 17th and for the violence reduction strategies, proposals are due by April 24th.
You can submit proposals and find more information about all projects by clicking here.
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