2024 Rockford REGROW Grant Program

The City of Rockford invites you to apply for the 2024 Rockford REGROW Grant Program funded by the Cannabis Fund. This is an equity-driving, restorative justice and community reinvestment grant program funded by the City of Rockford's 3% local tax on adult-use cannabis retail sales.

The decades long "war on drugs" and related policies led to disparate cannabis-related arrests, convictions, and sentencing which have had long lasting legal, social, economic, and inter-generational consequences on certain disproportionately impacted communities, individuals, and their families, especially communities of color. This program aims to rectify some of these past harms and to reinvest in these disproportionately impacted communities, individuals, and their families directly.

For the 2024 funding cycle, $500,000 is available for Rockford REGROW Grant Program through the following funding opportunities:

• Tier I
  1. TEN (10) quick deployment grants at $10,000 per grant to support smaller, shorter-term projects.
• Tier II
  1. FOUR (4) one-year grants at $50,000 total per grant
  2. TWO (2) two-year grant at $100,000 total per grant

The grants may be used to fund:

• programs for economic and business development; education; youth programming; job training; housing; health; or other financial assistance to individuals, businesses, and communities that have been disproportionately impacted by cannabis-related laws
• programs to substantially reduce both the total amount of gun violence and concentrated poverty in the City of Rockford
• programs to protect communities from gun violence through targeted investments and intervention programs, including economic growth and improving family violence prevention, community trauma treatment rates, gun injury victim services, and public health prevention activities
• programs to promote employment infrastructure and capacity building related to the social determinants of health in the eligible community areas
• programs to address economic development, violence prevention services, zero entry and re-entry services, and youth development

Important information to note:

• The Tier I Applications open at 8 a.m. on Tuesday, October 1, 2024, and close at 5 p.m., Tuesday, October 22, 2024.
• The Tier II open application period will be announced on a future date.
• Interested applicants may apply for both Tier I and Tier II REGROW Grants.
• Interested applicants who need assistance can attend a virtual workshop on Tuesday, October 8, at 11 a.m. Email [email protected] to receive the link to join.
• Applications will be reviewed by the Community Resource Commission and will provide recommendations of the grant recipients to the Planning & Development Committee on November 25, 2024 and then referred to City Council. Grant Awards for Tier I Recipients will be announced after the City Council vote on December 2, 2024.

For more information about the program and requirements, please visit this REGROW Grant Program page, email [email protected], or call 779-348-7418.

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