The U.S. Department of Education, through its Promise Neighborhoods program, is accepting applications for grants of up to $6 million dollars per year for 5 years for a total of $30 million to move the needle on educational and developmental outcomes of children and youth residing in the nation's most distressed neighborhoods. The submission deadline is September 5th.

The City is partnering with UCF College of Education (lead agency for this application), together with Orange County Public Schools (OCPS), and other organizations to apply for the grant. 

The target population selected by UCF, in collaboration with OCPS, includes portions of Washington Shores, Ivey Lane, Rock Lake, and Mercy Drive, and the schools served are Carver, Eccleston, Ivey Lane, Jones and Nap Ford. Program participants will be positively impacted via increased educational and youth development programming at their schools and via neighborhood-based partners.

Five City neighborhood centers are located within the zone (Dr. I. Sylvester Hankins Park Neighborhood Center; Dr. James R. Smith Neighborhood Center; Ivey Lane Neighborhood Center; Northwest Neighborhood Center and Rock Lake Neighborhood Center). In addition, our After-School All-Stars operates programs at Carver Middle School and Jones High School.  As a partner in this grant, the City can expect that a portion of the funds, if awarded, will be allocated to beef up our academic and social programs at these sites.  We also hope to expand our youth employment program to serve youth residing in the area.

As part of the grant application, applicants need to show that they are able to leverage one-to-one match funding, of which 90% can be in-kind. The City has calculated its current investments in children who reside in this geographic area, including the existing value of space, programming and staff at the aforementioned neighborhood centers.  The value of these investments, which have been budgeted annually for many years, is estimated to be $2,084,693, and is acceptable to be considered "in-kind" match for this grant by the U.S. Department of Education.

The grant application requires that the key partners, including the City of Orlando, sign a Memorandum of Understanding committing themselves to the mission of the program and to contributing matching funds to support its success.  By approving this agenda item, City Council ratifies the signature of the Deputy Chief Administrative Officer on the Memorandum of Understanding.