April 28, 2025 - Fort Wayne Mayor Sharon Tucker announced today that 35 city neighborhoods have been awarded improvement grants to help make them more safe, attractive and enjoyable for residents.
“The Neighborhood Improvement Grant program exemplifies how we’re working together to make a positive difference in Fort Wayne,” said Mayor Tucker. “It’s imperative that neighborhoods have the opportunity to try new things and add a special sense of place with projects that are unique and build up individuals and families. I’m always encouraged when I get to spend time in neighborhoods and interact with residents to find innovative ways to enhance the quality of life in our community.”
Community Development’s Neighborhoods Department awarded more than $166,000 in grants up to $5,000 to complete projects in one of four areas: placemaking, transit improvements, landscaping, and neighborhood identification or branding. Routine maintenance projects are not eligible for funding. Neighborhood leaders must demonstrate that they have gotten input from residents when selecting a project.
Examples of funded projects include installing new playground equipment, benches, historic markers, painted crosswalks, street trees, branded signage, speed limit signs and landscaping. In the Hamlets of Woodland Ridge West, where today’s news conference was held, improvements will be made to the neighborhood pond to improve access and safety. Contractors and neighborhood volunteers will install native plants and two rock outcroppings to stabilize the pond’s shoreline erosion. This project represents a partnership with the Purdue Environmental Resource Center, Indiana Department of Natural Resources and the Indiana Native Plant Society to improve the health of the pond and enhance the wildlife within and around it.
“This is the eighth year for the Neighborhood Improvement Grant program and neighborhood leaders continue to report what a positive impact it has on their communities,” said Dan Baisden, neighborhoods department director. “They tell us that it increases pride in their neighborhoods and encourages residents to become more involved in their associations.”
A complete list of all the 2025 neighborhood improvement grants is listed HERE.