Four homes of the UI cultural centers sit tucked in a tree-lined side street away from the rush of Grand Avenue traffic. Screen doors snap shut as students wander in and out of the houses that are meant to feel like home.

Until recently, they’ve practically been empty spaces, officials said. But the UI’s four cultural centers received roughly $70,000 in funding this year, a significant jump that could boost involvement and fundraising efforts.

The new funds — which include $10,000 for enhancing programming and $60,000 for large reunion events — are one-time increases, but they could become recurring funds, said Bill Nelson, the director of the UI Office of Student Life.

“It is an opportunity to prove our relevance,” said Elizabeth Krause, director of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Resource Center. “So we can say, ‘We are making a difference.’ ”

And it isn’t just the students who feel they lacked funding and staff members. In the past two years, two separate evaluations by external firms came to the same conclusions.

In addition to the increased funding, the UI has provided a salary for another staff member, who will direct the Asian Pacific American Center.

This year’s new funding, which comes from a strategic initiative pool through the Office of Student Services, is only the first step toward bringing the centers up to the level of other Big Ten schools and private colleges, said Katherine Betts, assistant director of diversity programs on campus.

“We’re hoping that this year will kind of break some ground in helping us be able to engage the university,” she said.

The money won’t be a quick fix, though, she said. The UI cultural centers are still relatively underfunded compared with those at other schools, she added.

But Luisa Orticelli, the new director of the Latino Native American Center, sees the extra resources as a chance to “make it big” this year.

The centers have three years to spend the portion allotted for reunions, which aim to promote alumni involvement — and donations.

The remaining $10,000 for programming will be available to the centers by request. After staff members submit an application, Nelson and Betts will review it before distributing the money.

Michael Palermo, a first-year graduate student who has been involved with the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Resource Center for three years, said the staff members are more motivated and have set a goal to hold weekly and monthly events and to more actively involve the whole campus.

“In the past, we didn’t even know any funds we had,” he said. “We were more reticent to plan events because we didn’t know if the funding would be there or not.”

Krause said she’s already seen positive effects from the more generous budget. Last year, her center felt like a “ghost town,” she said.

“I would go days and days without anybody walking through that door,” she said. “Today I’ve had, in the past three and a half hours, seven [people] drop in.”