COMMUNITY TOOLBOX

Pride grows community toolbox

If your group, organization, or neighborhood association wishes to tackle a neighborhood cleanup or similar project the Pride Grows Program has tools available! This program allows you to use our Pride Grows trailer with tools like shovels, rakes, litter pickers, toters, a push mower, a chainsaw, and potentially even a dumpster for your project. We will drop the trailer off before your event for you to use free of charge! Learn more

leaf a legacy program

The Leaf a Legacy programs allows you to dedicate a public tree in the name of someone as a memorial or gift.  Trees make a great gift for any occasion including weddings, graduations, or birthdays because a tree can honor that special someone while benefiting so many others. An engraved marker will be placed at the base of the tree to memorialize your generous gift. The tree must be planted on City property such as street trees or trees in parks. Suggestions include Harrison Park Golf Course, the Library, Danville Stadium, the Riverfront, the dog park, a park in your neighborhood, or a street tree on your block. Learn more

caring for lots & housing

There are many resources and toolkits available when looking for ways to improve lots and housing including your own property or property in your neighborhood! This page can offer guides on home maintenance, blight reduction, vacant lot care (including low-maintenance or essentially no-maintenance care), landscape design, gardening, and more. Learn more

arts & culture

The City of Danville is a regional hub for artists and artistic expression. With more than a dozen active arts groups including theater, visual arts, choirs, and a symphony, Danville offers something for everyone. See our list of active arts and culture organizations and get involved today. You can also see a list of area events  to keep up date on what's happening in the region. For interesting ideas check out the League of Creative Interventionists, Creative Exchange, the 101 things you can do in your community guide, Better Block, Hunter Frank's Work, the Prototype Festival and the tactical urbanism guides from Streets Plan. 

community engagement & livability

There are many resources available to improve livability including Fire it Up a a toolkit on youth action and a guide on walking school bus basics.  AARP maintains a valuable toolkit and resources on improving livability and a how-to on creating communistic action programs, block parties and more. We also recomend you see the Organizer's Workbook on "tools to support your awesome neighborhood" and the UofK toolkit focused on capacity building.

neighborhood associations

The City of Danville is happy to support neighborhood organizations. Let us know meeting times and locations so we can help inform neighbors or even attend meetings. We’re also happy to answer any questions about forming a neighborhood organization and provide resources such as sample sign-in sheets, a quick-start guide, activity ideas, and more! Learn more

native trees & plants

Planting a tree will raise property values, conserve energy, absorb and avoid air pollutants, reduce atmospheric carbon, and intercept stormwater - reducing flooding and pollution. ​Native plants such as wildflowers provide food and habitat for a wide variety of wildlife. Biodiversity - having a variety of many different plant species available - is a key component to nature. Many plants and many animals form an ecosystem, keeping a healthy balance between the plants, animals and even the bacteria and fungi in the soils.  Plus, a variety of plants can mean a beautiful garden year-round. Learn more

plant a rain garden

Rain gardens create decorative landscaped areas to hold driveway or roof runoff, and allow water to infiltrate into the ground slowly. ​This is a great way to beautify your yard, reduce urban flooding, and mitigate stormwater damage to your home, and reduce the impact of stormwater on our public drainage systems. Rain gardens are even easy and affordable to install. Learn more

support community gardens and urban agriculture

Community gardens can beautify and area or provide fresh produce to an entire neighborhood. Urban agriculture is a great opportunity to turn a yard or empty lot into produce space. Working with plants is a great activity for your home, neighborhood, and city. Learn more

participate in a cleanup

Any day is a great way to help cleanup your community.  Gather a few friends, colleagues, church members, classmates, or neighbors. Pick a date and a time and a location that could use some TLC. Learn more

reduce your pollution

The city’s pollution and stormwater problems won't be solved by large municipal projects alone.  There are about 17 square miles of land within the city limits of Danville. 3.6 square miles are public land and roadways; 13.4 square miles are privately owned!  That is almost 80% of the City (and 80% of the area rainwater falls on). That is why private property owners can and do make a large difference in our local environment. Learn more ​

recycling- more than paper & plastic

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The City of Danville doesn't currently offer curbside recycling to the residents.  However, there are some options nearby without sending all those recyclable goods in your waste stream to the landfill! Recycling is much more than just paper and plastic and there are many options in the area for responsible recycling. Learn more

install a rain barrell

Credit: AAWSA

Did you know only 1 inch of rain on a 1000 square foot roof creates about 625 gallons of water?!? With a rain barrel, you can collect some of it to water the plants in your yard.  Plants love the soft, chlorine-free, warm (compared to water from a hose) water. With a rain barrel, you'll ​You'll love saving money on your water bill.  And you will know that you're contributing to a healthier environment by reducing runoff, pollution, and flooding. Learn more

be septic smart

One in five Americans is on a septic system.  A limited number of Danville residents use septic as their means of treating the sanitary sewage from their homes. There are many resources available to providing information on managing waste and maintaining your septic system. Learn more

fight climate change

Source: FEMA

Heavy downpours and dry summers may be common in the Midwest, but climate change is making them worse. Increased temperatures increase evaporation. In the summer it becomes too hot for rain to form and the water stays evaporated until winter and spring temperatures drop enough to cause huge storms. There's a lot you can do to lower your impact and help fight climate change. Learn more

stormwater stencils

Stormwater stencils are a great way to remind your neighbors that storm drains empty (untreated) into our local lakes, rivers, and streams. Learn more

permeable pavement & green building materials

There are many forms of green infrastructure that you can use or install to reduce your impact on the environment, reduce maintenance bills, and reduce your impact on tax-payer funded infrastructure. Learn more

let us talk about pollution at your next event

The City of Danville is committed to engaging its citizens in our pollution prevention efforts.  If you would like the City's help to add stormwater pollution prevention or community clean-up activities to your group's next meeting, please let us know.  We can help provide some information so you can teach your members about why clean water is so important, and what each of them can do to make a difference in the future of our environment. We can also attend citizen's group meetings to speak about pollution prevention and how we can all work together to ensure safe and healthy water for the future! Learn More

water safety

Our drinking water ultimately comes from the lakes, rivers, streams, and aquifers around us. It is important to know that your drinking water is safe, especially for pregnant women and children for whom contentment may have a major impact. People in old buildings with older piping, people using private wells, and everyone else should be aware of water safety. Learn more