Building Better Communities

BrooThe American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) provides “a historic opportunity to reimagine the communities in which we live, an unprecedented opportunity to address problems that arose in recent months and divisions that have festered for decades” New Castle County Executive Matt Meyer said.

A part of that historic opportunity developed the Building Better Communities Initiative. The Building Better Communities (“The BBC”) Initiative was launched under the direction of County Executive Matt Meyer to identify and implement strategies that will result in violence reduction and increased community engagement in under-served neighborhoods throughout New Castle County.  

This initiative will address crime prevention and violence reduction in a multidisciplinary fashion.   Expanding upon better practices such as Project SEED as well as more innovative approaches using audio engineering/conflict resolution programs that target at-risk youth.

“The BBC” will be led by an 8-person commission, The Commission on Hopeful Communities, which includes various county-employed and external stakeholders. Recommended projects will be funded primarily through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds that are subject to New Castle County Council approval.

The BBC will meet every 4th Tuesday at 12pm. Agenda and meeting minutes can be found by clicking here.

Our next neighborhoods of focus are Brookside and Pleasantville. For non-profit organizations that are interested in serving either of these areas, click here for the online grant application form and scoring matrix. The application deadline is 5pm on Friday, July 7, 2023.  We will host a virtual information session for interested organizations on Wednesday, June 14, 2023 at 6pm.  Click here for the zoom meeting link.

We will be looking at other neighborhoods at a later date.

Commission on Hopeful Communities:

Vanessa S. Phillips—Chief Administrative Officer, New Castle County

Dr. Tawanda Bond—Director of Equity & Strategic Partnerships, Red Clay School District

Kevin Kelley—Former Director of Parks & Recreation Director, City of Wilmington

Dr. Danya Woods—Assistant Principal, Richardson Park Elementary School

Jordan Perry—Assistant County Attorney, New Castle County Office of Law

CJ Bell—Manager of Special Projects, New Castle County

Josue Ortega--Community Liaison and Projects Coordinator, New Castle County

Current Project Allocations