City Hall » Departments » Neighborhood Services » Neighborhood Grant Programs » Neighborhood Empowerment Grant

How to Apply

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Before you begin: Please review the eligibility information carefully. This helps ensure your project is a good fit and your application is complete. Our web trainings are also a good resource.   

Eligibility 


The Neighborhood Empowerment Grant prioritizes the following areas:

  • Community Engagement: Promotes active participation of residents in neighborhood initiatives and activities that recruit volunteers, increase membership, and strengthen outreach efforts.
  • Neighborhood Identity: Supports work that celebrates each neighborhood's unique identity and culture, including branding, website creation, signage, and events.
  • Public Safety: Implements projects and programs that reinforce community safety, such as blight remediation, animal safety, traffic calming, and public space illumination.
  • Quality of Life: Facilitates necessary repairs and upgrades to improve overall well-being, including projects around green spaces, minor home repair, and beautification efforts.
  • Crime Reduction: Supports community-led efforts to reduce violence and other crimes through camera technology, neighborhood watch programming, graffiti abatement, mural installation, and stakeholder task forces.
  • Neighborhood Investment: Encourages neighborhood investment and development both internally and externally, including capacity building for neighborhood leaders, vacant land activation, and master plan creation.
  • Code Violation Remediation: Implements measures to reduce code violations, such as home repairs, tree/brush trimming, hazardous waste disposal, and trash removal.
  • Youth Programs: Focuses on leadership, education, and engagement programs that help youth stay active, build confidence, and achieve their full potential. Includes year-round and summer youth programs.

We know that neighborhood leaders are the experts on the strengths and needs of their neighborhood. If you have an idea for your neighborhood that is not listed above, please reach out to see if the project is a good fit for this funding opportunity.

Application and Award Cycle 


Empowerment Grants are awarded once a year, with an optional mid-year cycle depending available funding. You must submit your application no later than 11:59 PM on the due date.

The project period for the 2026–2027 Empowerment Grant will start in June, and all grant activity must be completed by April 30, 2027. Extensions may be granted on a case-by-case basis.

Note: Organizations can only have one active Empowerment Grant at a time. If you have an open grant from a previous cycle when applications close, you cannot apply for the new cycle.

Applicant Requirements


Applicant organizations must be nonprofit Neighborhood or Home Associations that are registered with the City of Kansas City and the State of Missouri. 

You must include the following items with your application:

Before accepting the grant award and receiving funding, organizations entering into a contract with the City must provide the following: 

If an organization cannot contract with the City and would like to use a fiscal agent, they may do so as long as the neighborhood organization is still the applicant and creator or co-creator of the project.

Not Eligible 

We cannot fund projects if they:

  • Require City permits for infrastructure projects
  • Support or promote political parties, candidates, or political office holders
  • Request funds to cover operating costs that are currently funded by other dollars (supplanting) 
  • Benefit other cities or regions   
  • Are submitted by Neighborhood or Homes Associations that are not actively meeting and/or do not have a governing body
  • Are submitted by individual residents applying outside of their neighborhood organization 

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