Fulton Block Builders – Reminds Residents to Complete Pre- Applications for the 2017 Block Challenge by April 1st.
March is already half over and the Fulton Block Builders (FBB) are encouraging neighbors to get-together and complete the pre-application for the 2017 Block Challenge, a program that offers matching funds to each participating home owner up to $1,000 (dollar-for-dollar match) to put towards exterior home improvements. The program encourages and rewards neighborhood groups to work together to reinvest in their own communities. Pre-Applications must be submitted by April 1, 2017.
City residents who would like to participate in the program need to form a neighborhood group with 50% of the property owners on their block. The group can include homeowners or landlords. Once a cluster has formed, the pre-application process begins. The matching grant funding will cover expenses are for exterior property improvements to groups of homeowners on a single block - in targeted neighborhoods - throughout the city of Fulton. Aside from matching grant funding, participating homeowners have access to discounts from sponsoring hardware stores and garden centers. There are also additional bonuses for corner properties and using the Historical Colors found on the Paint Fulton tab of the Website.
Applicants must enlist their neighbors on the same street/block to participate and fill out a simple Pre-Application Form. Blocks can be made up of both sides of one street or of the homes within 4 streets. FBB Representatives are available to help applicants through the process. Pre-applications are available on the FBB website: https://www.fultonblockbuilders.com/apply/ or call Linda Eagan at 315-529-9181.
Fundraising for the 2017 Grant Applications has been quite successful so we encourage any neighborhood in the city to organize and submit the pre-application by April 1st. Grants are available to owner occupied homes as well as rentals.
IMPORTANT DATES REGARDING 2017 Fulton Block Builders:
Wednesday, March 1 – Pre-application will be available
Wednesday, March 1 – Target Areas are announced
Saturday April 1 – Pre-applications are due
Monday May 1 – Final applications are due
By Monday May 15th – FBB grant awardees announced
Pre-applications for the 2017 program can be found here: https://www.fultonblockbuilders.com/apply/
Fulton Block Builders Has Been Receiving Strong Support From Within The Fulton City Limits
Fulton Block Builders has been receiving strong support from within the Fulton city limits. But for the first time, business support has come from outside of the city with a donation from Sweet-Woods Memorial Co. in Phoenix.
“Dennis Goss, owner/operator of Sweet-Woods Memorial Co. in Phoenix is shown here presenting Linda Eagan with a check for the Fulton Block Builder project. “I’ve been watching Linda build momentum for this grass roots revitalization project for the past year and believe strongly in the benefits this can bring to the Fulton community. I just felt like I had to get involved!” Goss said.
“March 1st the eligible blocks for the Block Challenge grant program will be announced” Eagan said. “Fulton Block Builders has received a matching $100,000.00 grant, for 2017, from the Shineman Foundation. The match is nearly 2/3rds complete thanks to individuals and companies from now…both inside and outside the Fulton city limits. Support has been fantastic; please check out the website to learn more about this great project and how to lend your support.”
Since 1932, Sweet-Woods Memorial Co. has provided thousands of families all over Central New York with premium quality memorials, bronze plaques, and mausoleums. With locations in Phoenix, Brewerton and Camillus, the business was founded with one philosophy in mind: to provide the best quality material and craftsmanship available, at a reasonable price.
Meet Susan Arena - Press Release
The Fulton Block Builders are following the Healthy Neighborhood Community Revitalization Initiative. To achieve this, it is crucial that home improvement projects maintain the architectural character of the structure, neighborhood character, and historic character to ensure that investment adds value.
To accomplish this, Fulton Block Builders is working with an Architectural Historian, Susan Arena, who grew up in Fulton but now resides and works in the greater Boston area. Susan went to Volney Elementary, Fulton Junior High and G. Ray Bodley until she graduated in 1999. During those years Susan was active in swimming, soccer, community outreach through a variety of clubs, her church, and with her friends and family. Susan is a steadfast friend and will quickly tell you that her best friends are also her family members.
Following high school Susan attended Hobart and William Smith Colleges where she continued her community engagement and graduated with her Bachelor’s Degree in Architectural Studies. She then went on to achieve a Master’s Degree in Historic Preservation from the University of Vermont.
Today Susan is an Architectural Historian and meets the Secretary of the Interior's professional qualification standards, in the areas of Architectural History and Historic Preservation. She has nearly a decade of related work experience, which has included completing National Register nominations, historic building assessments and surveys, and leading educational and outreach initiatives. Susan has just taken a new position as the Preservation Planner for the City of Worcester, Massachusetts.
It is Susan’s love of history, her hometown and her keen sense of community that has led her to volunteer to put together historical paint palettes for homeowners in the city of Fulton to refer to. Residents will be incentivized to use the identified palettes by offering a bonus to residents that select from colors laid out in each palette.
Please join the Fulton Block Builders in extending our deepest gratitude to Susan Arena for her selfless donation to this exciting new project.
Restoring Pride in Fulton’s Neighborhoods
Many people think restoring pride in the neighborhoods in Fulton is a tall order. A small but fast growing group of people, the Fulton Block Builders, have made it their mission to change this way of thinking. Working together, we know we can get homeowners to come together in the community to collaborate on improvements to their properties, building confidence in Fulton’s neighborhoods and inspiring others to reinvest. We are dedicated to revitalizing our neighborhoods and building neighborhood pride.
Can it be done? We know it can! The Fulton Block Builders have already created a contagious spirit of hope for people in Fulton. The excitement is spreading and people are talking! On Facebook alone we reached over 6,000 people in only 8 days!
Have you heard about us yet? The local paper, The Valley News, recently ran a headline about the top stories they covered in 2016. Guess what made the list? You guessed it, the Fulton Block Builders!
For Fulton’s neighborhoods to become vibrant, families already living in Fulton have to want to stay, and those visiting, have to conclude they might want to live here too. It is the mission of Fulton Block Builders to coordinate efforts to make this so.
We can and will build pride in Fulton’s neighborhoods, together, one block at a time.
The Time has Come to Choose our Fulton
Fulton Block Builders follows the Healthy Neighborhood Initiative brought forth by Don Poland an urban geographer and Charles Buki a nationally recognized housing and neighborhood expert. The Healthy Neighborhood Initiative supports homeowners making intentional decisions that impact their community, property values, pride and sense of civic engagement. Fulton, New York, much like many small cities in America used to be one of the great ones. A city of people not just full of pride, but of good neighborliness as well. Yet for the last several decades Fulton’s small city charm has retreated in profound ways. The people of Fulton have invested less and less in our community.
Neighbors have stopped talking one to another. New people have moved in and neighborhoods feel different. Troubling trends have been taking root. Homes are being painted less frequently. Fences repaired less often. Streets are maintained with less vigor and flowers are seen on fewer properties. It is through these small decisions, Fulton, like so many other communities that have suffered decades of disinvestment, is at a crossroads.
Now is the time for Fulton to make a decision. Will we work together to bring back engagement or accept this new disinvested approach? Will we choose beauty or charmless? Will we work together to replace self-repeating disinvestment behaviors or will we accelerate our positives with self-repeating investment activities?
The fact is, much of Fulton is comprised of hardworking families who take good care of their homes and want their neighbors to do the same. The central task now facing Fulton, is to do right by those living in or being from Fulton. The community as a whole and citizens acting individually must decide to stop self-defeating disinvestment, both financial and civic and start reinvesting. Now is the time to harness the overwhelming desire on the part of so many Fulton households to live in a beautiful, vibrant, full of pride city. To capture the desire on the part of Friends of Fulton Parks, Fulton Footpaths, CNY Arts, Business Banners across the city and the Lake Neatahwanta clean-up.
Some will say it can’t be done without new business coming, without zoning being enforced and without the city as a partner. All of which is true, each has a part in creating the underlying essence of what is needed, PRIDE.
Charles Buki states “Pride is what comes through when mailboxes and house numbers shine, when lawns are mowed, snow is shoveled and leaves are raked. Pride comes through in washed windows, fresh coats of paint, holiday lighting and landscaped yards. Pride is the name of the game. It is the essence of stability which in turn is the backbone of good schools, a strong tax base, a vibrant civic and cultural life, and a thriving downtown.” For Fulton’s neighborhoods to become vibrant, families already living in Fulton have to want to stay, and those visiting, have to conclude they might want to live here too.
It is the mission of Fulton Block Builders to coordinate efforts to make this so. For more information on the Fulton Block Builders and the Healthy Neighborhood Initiative contact Linda Eagan at fultonblockbuilders@gmail.com or call (315) 529-9181.