Title
Accept City of Hobbies Grant
Action
Action:
A. Accept a grant in the amount of $125,000 from The Gambrell Foundation to help young people design and activate public spaces across the city through the City of Hobbies Program, and
B. Adopt a budget ordinance appropriating $125,000 from The Gambrell Foundation to the General Grants Fund.
Body
Staff Resource(s):
Monica Holmes, Planning, Design, and Development
Erin Chantry, Planning, Design, and Development
Explanation
§ In April 2026, the city was awarded a grant from the Gambrell Foundation to participate in the City of Hobbies Program.
§ The City of Hobbies seeks to build a movement so that everyone in Charlotte, especially children and teens, can find a hobby that brings them joy and purpose.
§ The year-long program combines research and action, asking thousands of children and teens about what hobbies they would want to do and engaging high school students as youth fellows to deepen the understanding of hobby interests and needs.
§ The program will then use microgrants to find and highlight local talents and enable them to share their passions, test new events and programs, and transform physical spaces into fantastic hobby sites for all ages.
§ The Charlotte Urban Design Center will use the grant funds to further the City of Hobbies’ mission by helping young people design and activate select public spaces across the city based on the insights from research and engagement.
§ The insights will also help make the case for larger, system-level interventions to support hobby-centric public spaces throughout Charlotte.
§ Work is anticipated to begin in June 2026 and conclude in March 2027.
§ No matching funds are required of the city.
Fiscal Note
Funding: Grant funding
Attachments
Attachment(s)
Budget Ordinance