Published July 6, 2026 at 12:48 AM EDT

Several community organizations won about $215,000 in total grants from the latest funding round of the city of Cincinnati's Safe and Clean Neighborhood Fund.

Safe and Clean grants are awarded to community-initiated projects that promote safety, livability, and eliminate blight. The fund is administered by Keep Cincinnati Beautiful and grants are prioritized for the top ten neighborhoods that experience gun violence, as well as projects that engage youth.

One of the awards this cycle is $25,000 to the nonprofit ARTE: Art, Reconciliation, Truth, and Empowerment. Co-founder and CEO Brent Billingsley says ARTE is partnering with the Hope and Unity Project in Avondale to hire about 20 young people who will work on expanding a mural and doing lawn care and grounds maintenance at South Avondale Middle School, as well as community clean-up efforts throughout the neighborhood.

Billingsley says they do a youth program every summer, but young people aren't eligible for the jobs once they turn 21.

"This grant has just blessed me. It has allowed me to give stipends to my lead artist who have come back from college," Billingsley told WVXU. "I was scrambling trying to figure out, how am I going to get this done, and I was going to probably kill myself doing most of the work. And here comes this grant, so I got a nice breath of fresh air that is going to really assist me in not just doing what we planned to do, but going above and beyond."

Billingsley says community-based work like this is usually more effective.

"When you get the kids that live on the block to come help clean the block, it's different. When you get the people who are from there to come in and start making those efforts to paint the walls or do the cleanup — there's pride, there's ownership," he said. "We've been doing murals for over six years and we've never had a mural tagged. I think a big reason for that is because the community painted it."

Nine other projects were awarded funding for the grant cycle that began in May:

• $15,240 to BLOC Ministries for a program in East and West Price Hill; young people will participate in a beautification project repurposing a vacant lot in West Price Hill, then mentor other students.
• $25,000 to CE3 for the Winton Hills Youth Wealth Building Initiative, open to youth ages 10-17 from Winton Hills, Avondale and North Fairmount to learn pathways for long-term economic stability.
• $30,000 to Cincinnati Learning Institute for the NextGen Pathways Program in Lower Price Hill; Oyler students in grades 7-12 will do paid beautification work around the school, while earning hours toward graduation.
• $18,050 to Cincy Nice for a youth program for youth participating in beautification and community-led events, based on the success of the Five Points Alley project.
• $23,000 to Never the Less for the Girls Leading Safe & Clean Neighborhoods project, open to girls ages 15-17 in Avondale, Roselawn, Bond Hill and Over-the-Rhine.
• $13,450 to the North Fairmount Community Council for a youth-driven litter prevention and anti-dumping project in the Beekman corridor.
• $30,000 to Save our Youth Kings and Queens for a project in Winton Hills and the West End; youth will work on trash removal, landscaping, and gardening.
• $15,000 to Toolbank Cincinnati; youth in Winton Hills will design and place a mini-toolbank in the neighborhood to help with the Reds Community Makeover, and to be available for the community to use long-term.
• $20,000 to the YMCA of Greater Cincinnati and Gamble Montessori; youth will transform an underutilized outdoor area at the school into a learning and green space. High school students will mentor elementary students on the project.

The fiscal year 2026 city budget (which ended June 30, 2026) included a total $549,060 for Safe and Clean grants, awarded in three cycles: the first was announced in February, this round is the second, and another round is expected in September.

The fiscal year 2027 city budget (which began July 1, 2026) included a total of $494,350 for Safe and Clean, which will be awarded starting next calendar year.

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