Round 2, 2025 Grant Awards

The Urban Action Network was proud to award six micro grants in 2025. Follow-on grants were awarded to the Pioneer Park Homeowner’s Association, Ernie Bankhead Neighborhood Association and the Creative Reuse Marketplace, as well as new grants awarded to the Matheny School Emergency Fund, PHASE 217 CAPTURE Needs Assessment and PHASE 217 Capacity Building.

UAct awarded The Pioneer Park Homeowners Association a Round 2 award to continue to develop and execute the Go-Getters project. The project includes a group of devoted and caring people in Pioneer Park that will help maintain the outside yard needs, such as mowing the grass, shoveling the snow etc. for a short term for neighbors that are recovering from an accident, surgery or other medical issue.

Because of their success utilizing the Round 1 funds to clean up blighted areas in their neighborhoods, UAct awarded them a Round 2 grant of $4000 to continue their progress.

A micro-grant of $1000 is awarded to Matheny-Withrow Elementary School to be used for direct emergency services needed by Matheny students and their caregivers. Funds must be used in a manner that directly benefits the student.

UAct has awarded Creative Reuse Marketplace another $4000 grant to continue operating the Art-based SEL Alternative School Program for the 2025/26 school year.

Capture is a program to help older adults in Springfield, Illinois achieve better health and wellness outcomes by assessing their needs and connecting them with existing health and human service resources utilizing community- based Family Health Advocates (FHAs).

To help guide further program development, PHASE will complete in-person preliminary needs assessment surveys with 100 participants over the age of 50 in a 1 mile radius of the Lee Medical Building. The assessment tool will be created by PHASE and informed by evidence-based practice tools.

The initial assessment is but one method CAPTURE will use to regularly assess participant needs throughout the program but these results will guide PHASE and UAct in refining program goals, objectives, target populations, etc. It can also help identify CAPTURE’s first participant co-hort.

UAct has awarded PHASE 217 a $2500 capacity-building grant to strengthen organizational capacity. PHASE will work closely with UAct President Sheila Stocks-Smith who will provide technical assistance to address the following areas of organizational structure:

• Review original IRS incorporation documents
• Review and create administrative procedures
• Define organizational structure and define roles
• Review and refine financial systems and reporting
• Strengthen governance structure
• Update Doc Talk and other program plans
• Other