Communications
City hosts two-day Love Your Block site visit
Civic Engagement Director Kali Ahset Amen and Renata Campante from the Bloomberg Center for Public Innovation at Johns Hopkins University visited Port St. Lucie for a two‐day site visit to see how the City is making a difference with the Love Your Block program.
Now in its second year, Port St. Lucie’ s Love Your Block program is supported by a $ 160,000 two‐year grant. Those funds provide mini‐grants for resident-driven projects in the Whispering Pines neighborhood, as well as two positions to operate the program and track its impact.
During their visit, the representatives presented to City Council, joined a community conversation and advised staff on strengthening engagement and building long‐term collaboration.
The community conversation brought together Year 1 mini‐grant recipients, staff, partners and funders to reflect on accomplishments and set priorities for Year 2. Partners, including Keep Port St. Lucie Beautiful, Naturally PSL and the Seventh‐day Adventist Church, highlighted neighborhood initiatives aligned with program goals.
They also joined City staff in presenting Year 1 accomplishments to City Council. Highlights included 1,329 volunteers engaged, 186 volunteer hours, 17 acres cleaned, 839 pounds of trash removed, five trees installed and 29 new features or repairs completed.
Year 2 mini‐grant applications open Feb. 14.
PSL On The Mic: Year in review and how Love Your Block is shaping a neighborhood
In the last episode of 2025, Mayor Shannon Martin shared a recap of the year, including being named an All-America City, progress on key infrastructure projects and transforming neighborhoods. The Mayor also looked forward to what we can anticipate in 2026.
Listen: cityofpsl. com / podcast Watch: link. cityofpsl. com / otmep62
Then the podcast kicked off 2026 with Melissa Yunas, engagement and marketing team manager, and Stephanie Vernot, community engagement manager, who talked about the Love Your Block program, powered by the Bloomberg Center for Public Innovation at Johns Hopkins, that brings City leaders and residents together to build stronger neighborhoods, one block at a time.
Listen: cityofpsl. com / podcast Watch: link. cityofpsl. com / otmep63
ENGAGED AND CONNECTED CITY
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