We Know What We Need Where We Live
A guide that explains how communities can get involved and ask for things that they need when federal funding comes to their area.
It’s hard to get involved when federal funding is given to your community. It’s not clear when or how to participate in the funding process and elected officials often fund projects they think the community needs. Funds like the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), which gave $330 million to Buffalo, are once-in-a-generation investments that can help communities restore the environment, prevent climate change, and share resources fairly.
When federal money is given to an area, community members have a right to say where they want that money to go. That’s why PUSH Buffalo collaborated with CUP and design collective Micropolis to create We Know What We Need Where We Live, a guide that explains how to get involved when federal funding comes to your area.
Using Buffalo and its ARPA funding as a case study, this tool shows communities how to advocate for projects that share resources fairly, create sustainable systems, and are projects that the community actually wants. It also shows communities when is the most effective time to participate and what kinds of questions they should be asking to make sure the projects center their needs and experiences.
PUSH Buffalo launched We Know What We Need Where We Live at their annual membership meeting and is sharing it with their local partners in the Our City Buffalo coalition as well as their national partners in their work around the Just Transition and ARPA implementation.
Check out the Project
The cover and four-page spread of We Know What We Need Where We Live
Project Collaborators
Special Thanks
Ariane, Ariel Aberg-Riger, Amanda Crotty, Courtney Deuro, Nathan Feist, Vette Green, Anne Huiner, Michele, Izzy Murphy, Dina Ponty, Ann Pratt, Laura Scofield, Micaela Shapiro-Shellaby, Monica Stephens, Win Min Thant, Stacy VanBlarcom, Luz Velez, Mark Wilkins, Sondra Youdelman
Product Details
8″ × 11″ color pamphlet; unfolds to 22″ × 32″ poster
Funding Support
Support for this project was provided by the National Endowment for the Arts and public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.
General support for CUP’s programs is provided in part by Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund, Lily Auchincloss Foundation, Mertz Gilmore Foundation, New York Foundation, Sigrid Rausing Trust, and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.
