We are so excited to announce our 2023 Small Grant awardees - congratulations to these 13 projects! We look forward to the improvements you are making to your communities. Please read below to see the diversity of neighborhoods and projects that our funds have gone toward.

Chinatown Graffiti Removal and Mural

• Project Description: With a rise in crimes following the pandemic, a beloved church had been targeted in an arson recently, in addition to many instances of graffiti and vandalism. The project aims to clean up the church and create a new mural in place of the graffiti. In an effort to help the livelihoods and the outward appearance of Oakland Chinatown, the new artwork will be a benefit to its residents and the Asian American Pacific Islander community as a whole. The project will take away the harmful visual cues of violence, and instead bring a source of positivity. 
• Neighborhood: Chinatown

Courtland Spur Public Garden Expansion

• Project Description: Over the years this strip has fallen into disrepair and neglect with terraces rotting, irrigation system shut off, and invasive species overwhelming most of the garden area. The Garden Expansion will address disrepair and overgrowth, and will result in placement of new wood terracing, restoration of irrigation systems, reduction of invasive plant/overgrowth, and planting of environment- and community-friendly trees, plants and foliage.
• Neighborhood: Jefferson

Dimond Park Bathroom Mural Project

• Project Description: Retaining an artist to paint colorful murals on otherwise daunting, uninviting public bathrooms. Some children are afraid to use these restrooms and having more welcoming public restrooms will benefit all those who use the park.
• Neighborhood: Glenview

Glenn W. Daniel King Estate Open Space

• Project Description: Install and maintain bulletin boards with attached signs stating the name of the open space. The bulletin boards are needed for posting volunteer activity announcements, natural history information about the open space, and timely alerts about current wildfire danger. In addition, bulletin boards are a community space for other announcements, such as lost pets and found keys. Today there are visitors that do not know the name of the Open Space.
• Neighborhood: Oak Knoll

Harvest for the Hood at Verdese Carter Park

• Project Description: Beautification project consisting of hand decorated elevated garden beds and clay pots. These address the community's need for uplifting their physical space in order to uplift their socioeconomic status. This project accomplishes the need for a face-lift for this deep East Oakland neighborhood. The project offers open-space activities, the opportunity to engage with neighbors who want to grow flowers, herbs and produce, demonstrates free and low-cost ways to grow your own food, and adds an aesthetic quality to an urban area marred by concrete, buildings and homes covered in graffiti, blighted properties, encampments of unsheltered persons, and is inundated by illegal dumping
• Neighborhood: Cox

LAMP Welcome Garden

• Project Description: The High Street Coalition has transformed a neglected off-ramp that was previously covered in blight into a colorful drought-resistant garden. We hope our garden brings joy and serves as a 'Welcome' to our neighborhood to all who see it! But that's the problem- it's currently nearly entirely hidden from view by the 6-foot tall weeds surrounding it! With this grant, we hope to have a longer-term solution by extending the area of mulch as much as possible to suppress weeds.
• Neighborhood: Laurel, Allendale, and Maxwell Park ("LAMP")

Mandela Parkway Improvement & Plant Replacement

• Project Description: Replace missing, dying, or inappropriate illegally planted plantings with low-maintenance, drought-tolerant, native pollinators and to repair and/or maintain the irrigation.
• Neighborhood: West Oakland

Melrose Community Garden

• Project Description: Project goals include purchasing equipment, plants, and more fruit trees, creating new signage, including a mini library to have gardening and cooking books for all ages, and "engraving" a vine on the sidewalk as art coming from our garden door to each corner. We hope to have kids and adults enjoy the fruits of our labor by next year!
• Neighborhood: Melrose

Melrose Library Rose Garden

• Project Description: Adding a rose garden to the Melrose Library will draw people  and demonstrate pride in this green oasis located at a blighted intersection. The rose garden presents an opportunity for learning basic plant care and complements the library's gardening program. 
• Neighborhood: Melrose

Rainbow Community Group (NCPC 27Y)​ Parklet

• Project Description: Adding gabion boxes for seating and signage for the location of native live plants.
• Neighborhood: Seminary

Rancho San Antonio Beautification

• Project Description: Project goals include planting more trees, beautifying tree wells, acquiring planters for areas that cannot have a tree well, adding wrap around planters to beautify signage, painting a local utility box to prevent graffiti, and anti-coating the box to protect the mural. 
• Neighborhood: Rancho San Antonio

San Antonio in Bloom: Urban Gardening to Empower Neighbors

• Project Description: Plant two trees, add a bench by the bus stop w/ a planter, (the 40 bus is how people get in and out of the neighborhood, and they often have to stand for long periods of time), and install 20 planters across the three diverters (this prevents diverters from being moved and gives them a feel of being more integrated into the community).
• Neighborhood: San Antonio

Wood Park Community Restoration

• Project Description: Revegetate Sausal Creek with native plants and care for its surrounding areas through erosion control, increased community access to the creek, improved aesthetics and ecological health of the park for residents and visitors, and improved quality of accessible green space for Oakland. Project activities include assessing the health of planted natives, monitoring water quality and wildlife, observing changes in park use and access, and addressing ongoing needs.
• Neighborhood: Reservoir Hills

Congratulations to the 2022 Small Grant awardees. Thank you so much for your commitment to keeping Oakland beautiful! We can't wait to see your projects come to life. More info on each project coming soon!


Rancho San Antonio 16th Ave Tree Planting

Revitalize San Antonio's Foothill Transit Corridor

Dimond Branch Library Garden

LAMP Welcome Garden

Melrose 27X NC Urban Farm (Garden Restoration)

Bottoms Up Community Garden

Friends of Mandela Parkway Plant Replacement Project

Hope Avenue: Neighborhood Garden Exchange

Friends-Stewards of AAMLO Beautification Project

Biological Reserve Cerro Hermoso

MudLab Mural for Trash Collection Hub, Vanessa Pope
Location: 440 Grand Ave., Oakland, CA 94610
Description: In an effort to educate people and encourage them to reduce their single-use plastics, this grantee painted a mural on the awning of a café that shows people the effects of single-use plastics on animals and the environment. MudLab also hosts regular weekend clean ups at the lake.

Phoenix Rising Peace Park Garden, Susan Boggiano
KOB gave a grant to renovate our neighborhood Adopt a Spot park. The project successfully involved neighborhood volunteers (ranging from 4 to 75 years old) in a community building event making mosaic stepping stones to beautify the park.  The average volunteer spent about 8 hours working on their mosaic piece. Some flagstones and stepping stones were donated by neighbors. We had our first neighborhood party to celebrate the new space in June with the many volunteers in attendance. The new space has seen a lot more visitors since the renovation. 

Sequoia Elementary School, Storm Drain Stenciling Mural & Trash Can Mosiacs, Lara Clayman
Location: 3730 Lincoln Ave., Oakland, CA 94602
Description: Students in the Climate Changers after school club identified trash and litter on and around campus as a main concern. Sequoia Elementary School put their grant money to great use with 2 amazing projects - storm drain stencil mural and trash can mosaics. Check out the website for more info.

​Healthy Havenscourt Community Garden, Celia Davis
Location: 6833 International Blvd., Oakland, CA 94621
Description: This grantee used funds to create a community garden around the Martin Luther King Jr. library. The goal of this project is to create a vision of hope, encouraging youth to get involved in the garden upkeep and connecting them to the land and fresh produce from the garden.

Micro Street Garden, Will Walker
Location: 1752 11th Street, Oakland, CA 94607
Description: This grantee created a series of small urban raised bed gardens in front of a local business that has 12 feet of open space that is usually susceptible to illegal dumping.

Members of the KOB board recently visited the murals painted in downtown Oakland that share messages of peace, commemorate lost Black lives, and showcase artistry of Oakland residents.

Photo credits: Andrea Silvestri

We are filled with sadness over recent events and the senseless murders of Black Americans—George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Aubrey. The long history of racial injustice in our country is irrefutable and intolerable. For far too long, events across our nation have laid bare the systemic acts of hatred and violence perpetrated against Black people in our communities. 

At Keep Oakland Beautiful, we are committed to creating and sustaining a beautiful, clean Oakland for everyone. We also acknowledge that the right to a clean, healthy environment is not shared equally among all and that Black people do not have the same access to clean and green spaces. As an organization, we are committed to working with all districts and we will continue to emphasize the importance of access and inclusivity. 
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We embrace Oakland’s black community and support the peaceful demonstrations throughout the city that are demanding justice. After the demonstrations, volunteer board members are working to keep Oakland clean and beautiful. Because of COVID-19 public health concerns, we are not able to host any volunteer events, but we encourage everyone to arrange their own cleanups. You can also find more Bay Area clean up events at bayareacleanup. 

​Black Lives Matter.

In solidarity and in pride for our diverse city, 
Keep Oakland Beautiful Board

We are all already making a big impact by staying at home, both for our neighbors and for our earth. If you are looking for ways to celebrate Earth Day this year, here are a few ideas to get outside and make a difference.

• Plant a vegetable garden in your yard, a planter box, or in containers. You can find plants and seeds at East Bay Nursery, Ace Hardware, and others in the Bay Area.
  
• Conserve water by fixing a leak or switching to low flow shower heads.
  
• Save energy by turning down your water heater and switch to energy-saving light bulbs.
  
• Feed animals in your yard by get crafty and making a homemade bird feeder! Check out a few ideas on how to do this with materials around your house.
  
• Pick up trash around your neighborhood if you are on a walk in your community. Be sure to wear gloves and don't touch your face while you are picking up trash.
• Make a donation to a local organization that protect species and habitats in our communities. if you are looking for one to protect, check out this list on Charity Navigator.

Happy Earth Day, Oakland! We hope our neighbors are healthy and happy.

Every year, Keep Oakland Beautiful works with the community to do a clean up in honor of Earth Day. This year, we will be co-hosting an Earth Day cleanup event with one of our new board members, Grant Chen! 

​Where: Durant Mini Park, 675 29th Street, between MLK and West St, Oakland, CA, 94609
When: 9:00 AM–12:00 PM

What We'll Be Doing

• Activities include trash pick up, graffiti removal/painting, garden box repair, weeding, etc.
• Wear clothes that can get dirty.
• No advanced sign up required – just show up!

Check out What We Did Last Year!
Earth Day 2019 at Courtland Creek & Jingletown