Get involved in the Participatory Budget Process. It gives people real power over public money. WHAT IS PARTICIPATORY BUDGETING?
Participatory Budgeting (PB) is a democratic process in which community members directly decide how to spend part of a public budget. PB gives people real power to make real decisions over real money. The process was first developed in Brazil in 1989. There are now over 1,500 participatory budgeting processes around the world, most of them at the municipal level. PARTICIPATORY BUDGETING IN GRAND R
07/26/2023
The third round of RFPs for the Participatory Budgeting Grand Rapids initiative have been released!
We are seeking programs for Affordable Daycare for Second & Third Shift Workers, Community Based Violence Reduction, and Mental Health Community First Responders.
Visit pbgr.org to read each request for proposal carefully and submit your proposals by October 3, 2023!
06/16/2023
The second round of requests for proposals (RFPs) for Participatory Budgeting Grand Rapids (PBGR) selected projects are now on the street. The City is looking for individuals, organizations, companies or agencies to conduct Youth Affordable Housing and Support, Support for Victims of Domestic Violence and Human Trafficking, and Community Support & Beautification initiatives.
Each RFP is available through the PBGR website: PBGR.org.
03/02/2023
The first three requests for proposals (RFPs) for Participatory Budgeting Grand Rapids (PBGR) selected projects are now on the street! The City of Grand Rapids is looking for individuals, organizations, companies or agencies to conduct a Democracy Skills Program, Community Reading Initiative, and Supporting Victims of Domestic Violence program aimed at residents in the First Ward. Each RFP is available through the PBGR website: PBGR.org
The City will bring a total of 12 RFPs for projects and ideas selected through the PBGR public vote process held last year. Requests for proposals for the other nine projects in the second and third wards will be released over the next 60 days in groups of three each month.
To submit a proposal, visit PBGR.org and follow the specific instructions laid out in each of the RFP documents. Once proposals are submitted and reviewed, the City hopes to execute agreements with selected partners by June to make these community ideas a reality.
Requests for proposals are MUST be submitted to our Purchasing Department by 11:59 p.m. Friday, March 31, 2023.
The Urban Core Collective is hosting two training webinars for potential contractors interested in responding to these and other upcoming PBGR RFPs. The one-hour educational sessions are set for 5:30 p.m. March 7 and 8:30 a.m. March 9. Registration is required. The webinars are optional and not required to respond to the RFPs.
You can register using the following links:
English: https://forms.gle/YUZwaezXGkMBWwX59
Español: https://forms.gle/Dgs8S8xTju4Gw7rh7
You can also email [email protected] with the session date you’d like to attend and the email subject line: PBGR Webinar Registration. You will receive the session invite by 7 a.m. on the day of the session.
10/18/2022
THIRD WARD - Swipe through the images to see what items were selected by our community! Thank you to all Third Ward residents who participated in the process!
10/18/2022
SECOND WARD - Swipe through the images to see what items were selected by our community. Thank you to all Second Ward residents who participated in the process!
10/18/2022
FIRST WARD - Swipe through the images to see what items were selected by our community! Thank you to all First Ward residents who participated in the process!
The votes are tallied and the results are IN! Thank you, GR, for your awesome participation during this process.
Next steps: Work will continue this fall on the scoping and development of strategies and/or Requests for Proposals (RFP). The City hopes to execute agreements with various vendors in mid-2023 or in FY24 budget to make these community ideas a reality.
Thanks to all who pulled up at the Second Ward community event yesterday!
Don’t forget to stop by Joe Taylor Park from 4-7 tonight to participate in the last night of Vote Week!
10/05/2022
Today is your last chance to take the future in your hands, Grand Rapids! Check out where to vote here:
Because of the American Rescue Plan Act, Grand Rapids has access to $2 million dollars in public funding. These funds are split by ward: first ward receives $600k, second ward receives $400k, third ward receives $1M.
The deadline to vote is TODAY!
Vote online at PBGR.org or join us today at Joe Taylor Park. Wednesday, Oct 5 from 4-7pm.
We’re pulling up to all the wards this week to get everyone informed to vote on this year’s projects during Vote Week!
On Monday, we took over First Ward’s Roosevelt Park with DJ Tony Banks - are you a GR resident? Vote in-person or online at PBGR.org through midnight tonight!
🎥: Mad Ethnic
Grand Rapids! It's time to put money in places it belongs!
PBGR is a democratic process that helps give real people real power over public money. Because of the American Rescue Plan Act, Grand Rapids has access to $2 million dollars in public funding.
Community members pitched ideas to be funded -- now it's time to vote to decide where these dollars will go!
PBGR Vote Week is from Friday September 30th to Wednesday October 5th. Vote online at PBGR.org or join us out in the community to vote in-person at sites throughout the City, including all Grand Rapids Public Library locations.
The future is in our hands.
🎥: Mad Ethnic
🎶: Deydreamin’ -