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Oak Park proposes "Canopy Connection" registry to help neighborhood groups with training and small grants
Summary
Staff detailed a three-tier voluntary neighborhood registry called Canopy Connection that offers toolkits, communications support and grants (pilot budget about $30,000 including $25,000 for neighborhood grants); trustees asked about duplicate groups, equity for renters and guardrails to prevent political use of funds.
Village staff on March 10 presented Canopy Connection, a voluntary neighborhood registry designed to help resident groups build capacity, access village resources and apply for small grants.
Village Manager Jackson introduced Neighborhood Partnerships Administrator Paola Garabe, who described a three-tier, capacity-based structure—"acorn," "sapling" and "mighty oak"—that matches support to group scale and needs. "We want there to be a lot of flexibility with this model so that a group isn't put in a specific bucket just based on number of blocks," Garabe said.
Under the proposal, tier 1 (acorn) offers toolkits and promotional support; tier 2 adds facilitated engagement sessions and marketing consultations plus eligibility for up to $1,500 in activation grants; tier 3 includes additional engagement sessions and a maximum impact grant of $2,500. Staff described a year-1 pilot budget just under $30,000 that includes approximately $25,000 reserved for neighborhood grants, communications and modest facilitation and outreach costs.
Trustees asked how staff would handle duplicate groups in the same geography and how the program would ensure resources are equitably available to renters and neighborhoods with less existing capacity. Garabe said maps and boundary guardrails would be developed, staff would work with neighborhood leaders to avoid duplication and the three-tier structure is intended to make the program accessible at differing scales. Staff also noted written grant guidelines that list ineligible uses (political activity/lobbying, private benefit, alcohol purchases and expenses incurred before approval) and that grant payments would be reimbursement-based with a required summary of impact.
Derek, a co-president of SIOPCO who spoke at the meeting, described SIOPCO as a nonpartisan community organization that focuses on awareness and civic engagement and said the organization does not engage in political endorsements. Several trustees said they support piloting the registry and asked staff to return with implementation details, boundary maps and evaluation metrics for the finance and partnerships work ahead.
The board did not vote; staff said they would begin with two existing neighborhood groups (SIOPCO and PNA) for a soft launch and would report participation and grant utilization back to the board as part of the 2027 budget process.
