The City of Kent will move forward with two new diversity grant programs, following a vote at the March 2 city council meeting.
The proposal will add “diversity focused programs, initiatives and events” to the application requirements for funding through both Celebrate Kent! and the Neighborhood Grant Program.
Council will also commit additional money to those two programs to accommodate funding of diversity projects.
“Larger community events focusing on promoting diversity will receive grant support through the Celebrate Kent! grant program and smaller projects and initiatives highlighting diversity that are $250 or less can be supported through the [Neighborhood Grant Program],” wrote Community Development Director Bridget Susel in a proposal.
The change won’t take effect until it is officially approved in two weeks at the March 16 regular city council meeting, but it received unanimous approval Wednesday night.
Last month, council asked the Community Development Department to investigate diversity programs from other communities to identify models and funding levels that could be adopted in Kent.
“Staff is recommending the term ‘diversity’ be applied broadly to include a myriad of focus areas, including but not limited to ethnicity, gender, race, socio-economic status, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, culture, etc,” Susel wrote.
When presenting the proposal before council, Susel emphasized her belief that economic status should not be neglected as a diversity classification.
“Focusing on project or event ideas that involve people from outside traditional neighborhoods, this is a big one,” she said. “If you ask me one of the biggest protected classes we need is [based] on income.”
The diversity grants will be given out to organizations or individuals who organize events, not used by the city to organize or plan anything directly.
“Grassroots initiatives need to be driven by the community itself,” Susel said. “But we will do the best we can with promoting it.”
Owen MacMillan is a reporter with the Collaborative News Lab @ Kent State University, producing local news coverage in partnership with The Portager.