Category Archives: Placemaking

Small Connecticut Boards Make Big Impact with Placemaking Grants

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The 650-member Greater Fairfield Board of REALTORS® created an inviting 'pocket park' on an unused downtown corner. The 156-member Newtown Board of REALTORS® helped establish an attractive and productive 'Fruit Trail' of flowering trees and perennials along a recreational path.

The Executive Officer of the REALTOR® boards of Greater Fairfield and Newtown, Connecticut declares that "Placemaking Grants are one of the best things that the National Association of REALTORS® has done for the local boards!" Frances Cormier-Carroll ought to know:  both her boards made use of this small-scale, intensely local REALTOR® Party program to enhance their respective communities with inviting spaces last year.  In fact, they're both applying for grants to fund new projects this year, and she anticipates the REALTOR®-supported placemaking activities will continue in this corner of Connecticut well in to the future.

The Placemaking Grant program helps REALTOR® associations plan, organize and build new public spaces in their local communities. "Not only do these activities help the towns and the REALTORS® by generating positive exposure," says Cormier-Carroll, "but the national association is really putting resources back in to the country through its local boards. Our members are proud of that, and our communities are grateful." She notes that the grant application process is user-friendly, and that the NAR staff provides invaluable assistance and advice as the boards have prepared their project proposals.

She credits the presidents of both boards with the energetic leadership it has taken to make their respective projects happen:

Last summer, the 650-member Greater Fairfield Board of REALTORS® (GFBOR) partnered with the Town of Fairfield to create a 'pocket park' on a small plot of unused public land at a downtown crossroads. 2016 President Stephanie Barnes, together with
co-chairmen Michael Traum and Kristen DeLaurentiis, approached the town to develop the project and identify the site. With a $3,000 grant from the REALTOR® Party, numerous planning meetings and about 100 man-hours of labor from the Fairfield Department of Public Works, an inviting and attractive park emerged, featuring new trees and plantings, a winding brick pathway, and three benches with plaques identifying the REALTORS® as the donors. In his remarks at the ribbon-cutting ceremony in October, Fairfield's First Selectman, a former REALTOR® and Past-President of GFBOR, noted the benefit of amenities like the new pocket park, in terms of both quality-of-life and property values.

The 156-member Newtown Board of REALTORS® used its $1,500 Placemaking Grant to help establish a "Fruit Trail" along an existing recreational path on the 185-acre campus of a former hospital that the town has taken over for public/private use and development. The Newtown Fruit Trail connects the community with nature, and its young plantings will feed the land and the people, as well as attract bees, birds, and butterflies. One July morning last year, board President Barbara Frey and seven of her REALTOR® colleagues actively joined the effort, mulching, weeding, and planting fruit trees and perennials. Not only did the REALTOR® team contribute the grant and considerable elbow grease, notes Cormier-Carroll, but the funds from the REALTOR® Party were spent at a local nursery, supporting the local economy.

"These boards, Newtown especially, are on the small side, but their members are deeply involved and committed to improving their communities," she says, adding that both of the placemaking projects have also served to strengthen the bonds between REALTORS® and local leaders. "There's been a great community response to these placemaking projects, from neighborly notes to recognition from officials. We are so grateful to NAR and the Placemaking Grant program for making this  possible."

To learn more about how smaller associations are making a big impact with the REALTOR® Party's Placemaking Grants, contact Frances Cormier-Carroll, Executive Officer of the Greater Fairfield Board of REALTORS® and the Newtown Board of REALTORS® at 203-255-0497.

Medina County Ohio REALTORS® Improve, Invest in Community with REALTOR® Party Grants

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With nearly 800 members keeping their ears to the ground, the Medina County Board of REALTORS® (MCBOR) never has to wonder what the needs of the community might be. In 2016, it met three such needs with funding assistance from the REALTOR® Party’s Housing Opportunity Grants and a Placemaking Grant. Ranging from housing for disabled veterans, to vegetable gardens for low-income citizens, to improving a bike path for the public, these projects demonstrate the deep level of investment these MCBOR REALTOR® professionals have in their community. 

Sherry Stell, MCBOR's Association Executive, explains that her organization has strong Housing Opportunity and Legislative Committees, but that its community service issues emerge organically, without any systematic approach. "If the need is there, members will call it to our attention, and we'll try to find out if it is possible to obtain a grant within the REALTOR® Party program," said Stell. For example, a MCBOR committee member who serves as a trustee of one of Medina County's townships recognized an opportunity for the REALTORS® to contribute to public fitness when a former golf course in his township was being converted to a public park and required funding to transform golf cart paths to mountain bike paths.  The Placemaking Grant program does not fund repair work on existing paths, but this fall, MCBOR succeeded in securing a $1,300 grant for a park map and information display case branded with the Medina County Board of REALTOR®S name and REALTOR® logo, along with a "Saddle Buddy" mountain bike repair and cleaning station.

Another significant community service project for MCBOR came about when one of its members handled the sale of a property to an organization that planned to convert the home to housing for disabled veterans requiring round-the-clock care. "That's how we found out about Newbridge Veterans Place," says Stell. "Our membership is more than happy to support our veterans.  Newbridge Veterans Place became the beneficiary of our Annual Charity Bowl-a-Thon, which attracted more than 140 participants and raised more than $3,000." Along with a $5,000 NAR Housing Opportunity Grant and three REALTOR® Care Days, MCBOR volunteers donated their time and skill to help the organization get the property up and running. "So much was needed in this seven-bedroom home to get it ready to house low income/homeless and disabled veterans," notes Stell. "Our members helped with painting, hanging blinds and setting up the kitchen, in addition to purchasing and moving furniture into the home." 

Yet another project arose because of MCBOR's longstanding support of Medina Creative Housing, an organization that promotes the development and management of permanent affordable housing for people with disabilities. In the past, the REALTORS® have received a REALTOR® Party Housing Opportunity Grant to support the programmatic goals of the charity's Life Skills Lodge as a comprehensive occupational therapy environment. "This year," reports Stell, "they wanted help installing raised garden beds, to help residents to grow their own produce and sell the excess at the farmers’ market for income. Our community is so fortunate to have this amazing organization, and this project, in particular, helps the broader population by providing fresh locally grown vegetables. It's a real win-win." On a hot day this summer, a team of MCBOR members got together and met at the site to build the garden beds, with materials paid for by a Placemaking Grant. As always, Stell put the word out among her affiliate members, who not only pitched in to help, but provided coffee, donuts and pizza. "Our members are very supportive of each other in these efforts," she adds, "whether it's with hard labor or coffee service.  Knowing that the REALTOR® Party is behind them with all its resources, makes all of us feel like we really can make a difference when these needs arise."    

To learn more about how the REALTORS® of Medina County, Ohio are making an impact on their community with the help of the REALTOR® Party, contact Sherry Stell, Association Executive of the Medina County Board of REALTORS®, at 330-722-1000.

New Year, New Name, New Application for Placemaking

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The Placemaking Micro-grant is now the Placemaking Grant and REALTOR® Associations can be awarded up to $5,000 to fund the creation of new public spaces (i.e. pocket parks,  trails, gardens,  alley activations, play area, parklets). This year, the grant will not fund adding amenities (benches, bike racks, etc.) to existing public spaces. This change is designed to make a bigger impact on communities and engage REALTORS® in these projects.