Article and photo by Anne Ehart

On a Monday evening in late September, residents of the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood in Brooklyn gathered to share their ideas on how $1 million can be spent in their community.

Each year since its start in 2011, City Council district 36, as well as 27 other districts across the five boroughs, use participatory budgeting to put the delegation of funds completely in the hands of the community.

The budgeting process allows residents to pitch ideas, refine them into proposals and vote on their fellow community members’ plans on how their neighborhood can be improved.

Ten passionate residents met in the cafeteria of Public School 308, armed with ideas that included solar-powered street lamps, technology improvements for Public Schools 308 and 305, and glitter on the sidewalks to brighten up the neighborhood.

In the past, improvements that district 36 residents chose included improving the Brower Park basketball courts in Crown Heights and renovating the auditorium of the Marcy branch of the Brooklyn Public Library, which is now under way.

The meeting was directed by Stefani Zinerman, chief of staff to Councilman Robert Cornegy, who said participatory budgeting is “a lot of work, but it is good to hear how it affects the people who grew up in this neighborhood.”

Darryl and Monica Robinson, who live in Williamsburg with their four children, see participatory budgeting as “our chance to give back to the community.”

Mr. Robinson, who attended PS 305 on Monroe Street between Marcy and Tompkins Avenues as a child, said, “Sometimes, it feels like nobody is helping.”

Mr. Robinson said he would love to see resurfaced basketball courts at his former school and improvements to the park like lighting for safety after dark, more seating and greenery.

The Robinsons and a friend, Richard Glasgow, belong to the PS 305 Alumni Association, which, according to its website, is aimed at “bridging the past, present and future.”

The group is committed to continuing the objective of the old African proverb, “it takes a whole village to raise a child.”

The PS 305 alumni work with current students and their parents to improve the school they once attended, and participatory budgeting provides an opportunity for alumni to give back to the neighborhood that raised them.

Community members can pitch ideas through mid-October at meetings held throughout the neighborhood. Through the fall and into the new year, ideas are refined with the help of budget delegates, who are volunteers from the community, and voted on by district 36 residents in March 2017. The winning ideas are then sent by city council members to the City Council’s Finance Division for inclusion in the City budget.

Even people who don’t vote in regular elections are welcomed in participatory budgeting. Residents do not have to be registered to vote and do not have to be 18 years of age. Noncitizens and people as young as 14 can cast their ballots.