2025 Grant winners will be announced shortly!
2025 Bloom Rhode Island grant applications have closed. Awardees will be alerted in March. Sign up below for news to hear when our 2026 grant applications open.
Current grantees: Got questions? Want to discuss your idea or arrange for a site visit? Please email Bloom Rhode Island's program manager Kevin Essington and he will be happy to connect with you.
General Grant Information:
Bloom Rhode Island supports decorative and flowering gardening projects that make publicly visible spaces more joyful. We give grants for:
- Planting of publicly visible and accessible spaces, particularly in densely populated areas
- Maintenance, including compost and watering, of the same
- Design planning for decorative public green spaces and gardens
- Plant identification signage
To qualify, your project must be located in one of the following cities: Central Falls, East Providence, Pawtucket, Providence and/or Woonsocket.
Past grants have included a flower cutting garden at a food pantry, plantings in city sidewalks, the redesign of a city library front yard, decorative plantings in the entryway of an eldercare center, large container gardens in a city square, a community flower garden in a public park, etc.
Your project may not be focused solely on growing food, nor may it be located in the yard of a single family home, and you must have permission to plant in the space your project takes place in. For more details, see the application forms (links above.)
Lastly, capacity building needs are not eligible in this year's grants. If you are in need of support for growing your organization, such as planning, board development, research, etc. please get in touch.
Garden Time and Pearl Street Garden Collective team up on a 2024 planting project.
27 Organizations Awarded in Bloom Rhode Island 2024 Spring Grants: Over $135,000 Distributed
May 2024: Bloom Rhode Island has awarded a total of $135,165 for creating, planting and maintaining decorative and flowering gardens in publicly visible spaces in five Rhode Island cities: Central Falls, East Providence, Pawtucket, Providence, and Woonsocket.
The grant program promotes the beautification of publicly visible spaces in urban areas, ranging from pocket parks to sidewalks. Grantees in this inaugural award cycle include schools, libraries, nonprofits, and other community groups. The majority of grantees are including native plants in their schemes. All will complete the intended work in 2024. Some of the 27 awarded organizations include:
Community Libraries of Providence (Providence)
A grant to hire a landscape architect to plan a revamp of the grounds around Knight Memorial Library of Providence, in honor of the Library’s centennial.
The Learning Community (Central Falls)
A grant for plantings, irrigation, and design consultation for school grounds visible to the public along Broad Street and Lincoln Avenue in Central Falls.
Roots 2Empower (Pawtucket)
A grant for decorative and flowering plant materials to enhance a guerrilla garden on Sherman Street in Pawtucket.
Good Neighbors (East Providence)
A grant to create a pick-your-own-flower garden for clients of Good Neighbors Food Pantry in East Providence.
PACE-RI (Woonsocket)
A grant to create and install a beautiful, hardy, and welcoming garden with a variety of native bushes, shrubs, and flowering plants outside PACE’s adult day care and health center in Woonsocket.
Similar grants were awarded to projects run by Groundwork Rhode Island (in Central Falls), Ocean State Montessori School (in East Providence), The Empowerment Factory (in Pawtucket), Daggett Farm and Gazebo Project (in Pawtucket), and 18 Providence-based organizations: Elmwood Neighbors in partnership with Amos House; Higher Ground International; Nuestro Mundo Public Charter School; Woonasquatucket River Watershed Council; SWAP, Inc; Roger Williams Park Conservancy; Children’s Friend and Service; Garden Time, Inc.; ONE Neighborhood Builders; Public Shop & Gallery; Trinity Square Together; Wild Lives; Providence Public Library; earf: community supported abundance; Crossroads Rhode Island; 15 Minute Field Trips; Community Health Innovations of Rhode Island; and Dirt Palace.
Want to learn about more planting programs and future grants from Bloom Rhode Island? Sign up below.
Got questions? Contact Programs Manager Kevin Essington at Programs@BloomRhodeIsland.org
