The Downtown Windsor Community Collaborative is organizing a micro-grants program to help neighbours spruce up their homes.
The grants, from $500 to $1,000, will be issued for small projects like fixing fences, painting a porch, or completing other small exterior projects.
"These small improvements really improve the sense of pride and sense of identity that people have in their spaces. We do have an older housing stock, we do have residents who face a lot of challenges so we're just looking at overcoming some of those barriers," says Community Development Coordinator Sarah Cipkar
The group hopes to raise $20,000 to issue 20 grants in 2018.
"We're looking at doing one project a week from April to October which would be 20 weeks, so about $1000 a project. But we'll take anything smaller or bigger and we'll work with the residents in the downtown to see what they want to do," says Cipkar.
She says they are also looking for skilled individuals to offer their time and expertise to help complete the jobs and teach others new skills.
"Projects that require a little bit more skill, we're going to be seeking out people who have those skills to essentially either donate or subsidize their time and potentially teach someone else as well," says Cipkar.
The grants are being funded through donations from downtown business owners and other interested individuals.
Downtown business owner Mark Boscariol is helping fund some of the grants through a donation program at his two downtown restaurants, Snackbar-B-Q and Downtown Pizza Co. Patrons will be asked if they want to add a $1 to their bill to support the program.
For more information on how to apply for a grant or volunteer for the program visit the Downtown Windsor Community Collaborative website here.