Clean Air Council and Feet First Philly, in partnership with the Philadelphia Department of Public Health, launched the 6th annual Public Space Enhancement Mini-Grant Program in August of 2025. There were over 70 applications submitted for amazing projects across the city. 16 projects were selected to receive funding ranging from $500 to $2,000 for community-based improvements, enhancing public spaces, walkability, and green access for residents across Philadelphia. Since 2020, 80 projects have been funded through the Mini-Grant program.
The selection process is led by a committee made up of past recipients, pedestrian advocates, professionals in public space improvements, city officials, planners, and designers from multiple departments to offer a wide range of voices and perspectives.
The projects awarded funding during the 2025-2026 season are:
- A New Dawn Incorporated – Steps Towards Resilience: Safe and Walkable Pathways for Mill Creek → Focusing on the walking areas around the Tiffany Fletcher Recreation Center, Aspen Farms, and the Mill Creek Urban Farm in West Philadelphia, this project held cleanups, beautification, and walking events. Cleanups focused on increasing the accessibility of walking areas and nearby bus stops and adding signage to highlight safe walking routes and encourage physical activity. ‘Walk and Talk’ events are also scheduled to begin this Fall, led by community members to better engage residents and families.
- Drain Buddies → Connecting volunteers in the Germantown area, this project connected neighbors both with each other and with their local stormwater infrastructure. Participants adopted a neighborhood storm drain, taking responsibility for monitoring it for litter, debris, flooding, pollution, and safety hazards. Awardee Kadafi El-Kardah worked with stakeholders and advocacy groups to create a community advisory committee. Drain adoption is slated to begin in July and can be monitored at the link map found here.
- Friends of FDR Park → 60 flex-post bike barriers were installed along high-risk pedestrian and cyclist bike lanes in FDR Park in South Philadelphia. The flex-posts focused safety efforts around the Southeast Asian Market, and were an improvement from the previous temporary safety cones that had to be placed and taken down each day by park employees. This paves the way forward for future, more permanent safety infrastructure in FDR Park, and the Friends group is hopeful this will include the cooperation of FDR Park employees. See this social media post for the flex-posts in action.
- Friends of Fernhill Park – Fernhill Food Forest Educational Signs → This project created sturdy outdoor signage for the Fernhill Food Forest and the surrounding park area. Working with a local artist, this project wanted to design clear, engaging, and concise signage for harvesting guidance, poison ivy identification, native planting, and other ongoing works in the area. 28 signs were produced and have been ordered, with the planned installation timeline of August 2026.
- Friends of Harrowgate Park → This project will install a story walk in Harrowgate Park, in northeast Philadelphia. Five children’s books have been selected after several engagement sessions with the community, including surveys, in-person outreach, and printed flyers. Lawn signs will be produced and installed once the current construction in Harrowgate Park is completed, estimated to be later this summer. The story walks aim to support early childhood literacy, promote physical and mental well-being through outdoor activity, and to strengthen community ties through culturally relevant programming.
- Hunting Park Initiative – Seating with Klean Kensington → Emerald Martez, Klean Kensington, EAS Carpentry School, and Smith Flooring are partnering to host a bench-building workshop in Hunting Park on July 24th. 12 benches are planned to be built by volunteers, under the guidance of professional carpenters from the local Carpenters Union and Klean Kensington. The project is aimed at high school students, with painting projects available to younger children. Adults will be welcome as well to participate in the park improvements.
- Hunting Park United → Hunting Park United (HPU) Association partnered with other organizations, including the Bicycle Coalition Youth Program and the Riverbend Nature Club, as well as others, to support environmental stewardship, neighborhood beautification, youth engagement, workforce training, and community wellness. So far this year, HPU has organized five community cleanups, several gardening events, job fairs, and an event for seniors at Hunting Park. Upcoming events include environmental stewardship days and a family fitness event scheduled for early August. Overall, this organization has strongly activated the community and continues to utilize the Mini-Grant funding to improve Hunting Park and the surrounding areas.
- Living Towers: Little Library Planter Boxes for Safer, Greener Sidewalks → The Korean Community Development Services Center worked to build and install planter boxes with little libraries on top along the sidewalk. Two tower planter boxes were built and installed, using books sourced from the community. They also serve as an additional barrier for pedestrians against cars. KCDSC staff and youth volunteers continue to care for the planter boxes and library towers.
- Mount Vernon CDC: Mantua Adopt-A-Planter Program → This project continued work on previous years’ awards and continued its partnership with the Philadelphia Zoo to focus on pollinator and native plant species. Work this year included purchasing water dispenser systems for existing planter boxes and strengthening relationships with residents, business owners, and plant adopters to create longer-term sustainability for the program. They also brought on an Outreach Coordinator to facilitate conversations about urban horticulture and have led several tours for the American Association of Museums and other larger groups.
- Neighborhood Land Power Project → This project worked to advance accessibility at the Conestoga-Pearl Community Gardens and Orchard. Lighting improvements and perimeter fencing were also installed, allowing the space to be usable and safer at all times. The walking paths have been levelled with wood chips, and planter beds are being improved and expanded. A community pollinator event was hosted, and a Fall Harvest festival is planned for September.
- NOMO: Community Beautification and Environmental Education Initiative → To improve the exterior space surrounding NoMo Foundation program locations and to engage youth and introduce them to urban agriculture and environmental sustainability, raised garden beds were built and installed at three NoMo sites. Sustainable agriculture and community-sourced food networks are critical parts of NoMo’s summer programming as outlined in this project. Learning about these systems has already begun in youth programming, and through July and August, the planter boxes will be built, and students will plant flowers, vegetables, and herbs to further engage in garden maintenance and stewardship.
- Northern Children’s Services → This project repaired and upgraded a walkway on Northern Children’s campus, which serves their on-site food pantry. The walkway is now ADA-accessible and is heavily utilized by food pantry guests, behavioral health visitors, families, and community members.
- Nicetown-Tioga Improvement Team (NTIT) → This project focused on improving the Healing and Unity Gardens. Replanting, re-mulching, and tree pruning were feasible due to the grant, and NTIT’s resident-led Garden Corps was expanded. The Garden Corps are active community members leading skills workshops and expanding their own intergenerational group to maintain the Healing and Unity Gardens. 6 events and resource fairs have been held at the Gardens, including mosaic making, garden training and skill-sharing, health issues faced by the community, block cleanups, youth service days, and resource giveaways.
- Original American Foundation → The Original American Foundation hosted the first of a garden workshop series. Volunteers and community members planted seed starters to take home, receiving resources and educational materials as well. This project also partnered with ICW West on 56th and Chester Ave and hosted second-grade classes to visit and learn at the community farm. They learned about pollinator insects and birds, as well as photosynthesis. The visit from students was highly successful, and there are plans to collaborate next school year and to expand this educational community partnership.
- Philly Track Jawn: Ploggin, the Streets → This community-based program combined walking and running with neighborhood stewardship and cleanups. Four cleanups are planned across Philadelphia, with the first already taking place in April, in North Philadelphia on Ridge Ave and Cecil B. Moore. See this social media post about the event, and postings about future clean ups. Additional cleanups are scheduled for the end of July in West Philadelphia and later in the fall. These cleanups include group walks with trash collection along corridors and in public spaces, improving sidewalk conditions for pedestrians and residents.
- Poetry Garden Parklet → This project began the transformation of a vacant lot into a community green space. The group plans to activate more spaces as part of the We3 Garden spaces across the city. So far, We3 has installed 7 raised garden beds, 3 ADA-accessible planting beds, 11 growing containers for herbs, and sourced seating in the Poetry Garden Parklet. Plans in August include completing the poetry installations, educational signage, and seedling starters, fully transferred and planted.
APPLICATIONS FOR THE 7th ROUND OF FUNDING WILL OPEN AUGUST 3rd, 2026
To be notified for the upcoming 7th round application season, please fill out the form below:
For more information, check out awardees from previous rounds of the Public Space Enhancement Mini-Grant Program here!
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