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Aug 30

From the front lines: Nonprofit employees share highs and lows of working during a pandemic, social unrest

By Feature

NFPN survey reveals employees’ perceptions about how they’re coping during a crisis — and why some are thinking about leaving their jobs

by Shari Finnell, editor/writer, Not-for-profit News

Second in a series of articles based on a “How Are You Doing?” survey conducted by Charitable Advisors

As reported in a previous Charitable Advisors’ Not-for-profit News (NFPN) article, a survey revealed that nearly 54 percent of Central Indiana nonprofit employees are thinking about leaving their jobs within the next 12 months. Of the 461 employees who responded to the survey, 40 percent said that timeline would apply to a 90-day timeframe.

With high employee turnover impacting everything from productivity to overall employee morale, numerous survey respondents gave further insights on why they left their job, why they’re thinking about leaving their job and, in some cases, why their employers are getting it right and, consequently, why they’ve decided to stay.

One survey respondent, who asked to remain anonymous, said that the pressures of shut-down orders, downsizing, lack of direction from leadership, an increased workload, and, later, a demand to return to the office amid rising COVID-19 cases led her to resign from her previous position.

The employee, who agreed to a telephone interview, said that she always has been drawn to the nonprofit sector because it’s rewarding to support the Indianapolis community she grew up in. “I have been working with nonprofits for 10 years,” said the employee, who furthered her education by graduating from the Lilly School of Philanthropy in 2018. “I worked briefly in for-profit, in sales, and I really didn’t feel like it was fulfilling for me as an individual.

However, she recently faced the challenging decision of leaving a nonprofit job before securing another. “Going through the pandemic was a time of great uncertainty. It was difficult,” she recalled. “Our organization didn’t have good leadership. While everyone was reacting in the moment, employees’ fears and concerns were not addressed until it was past time to address them. People’s concerns seemed to be dismissed. There’s something to be said for leading with empathy and acknowledging the unknowns, while at the same time accomplishing your goals and getting things done.’

The employee said that she experienced bouts of high anxiety during the pandemic, especially when the outbreak was first reported in Indiana in March 2020. “Uncertainty is a difficult spot for me,” she said. “I was concerned about my own health conditions, and I raised concerns with HR. When I did get answers, the response was, “Hold tight.” She also faced similar challenges in connecting with her direct supervisor. “They were very dismissive of our concerns,” she said.

When employees were asked to come into the office — before the city’s “stay-at-home” order was lifted. “I flatly rejected,” she said. To her, that request reflected “tone deafness” to employees’ fears and concerns.

Searching for job satisfaction

After quitting her job, the employee said she devoted time to self-care and volunteering for other organizations. “My first step was to reflect and to give myself breathing room to deal with the trauma and the incredible unknowns that were happening,” she said.

For her next job, she decided to be more selective about choosing her next employer. “I was looking for culture first and foremost, and compassionate leadership,” she said. “I also was looking at organizations that addressed some of the inequities that were being highlighted. Fair compensation also was on the list. Given my level of education and expertise, I was so burned out (with my last job) that it wasn’t worth it to continue with that compensation. I was looking for something more established.”

As part of the culture, the employee said, a flexible work schedule was essential. “Having gone through collective trauma, we now better understand that burnout is an issue that we should take seriously,” she added. “I don’t think a lot of organizations put time and resources to truly combat it. They don’t put time, effort and research to ensure it results in real action.”

In many cases, she said, you must show up for work — no matter what. If people call in sick, we don’t take them seriously. We now have a better understanding of how deeply connected we are. We need to make health a priority — both mentally and physically. We learned we can trust our coworkers, more and we can still accomplish things even if they’re not sitting there next to us. Understanding work-life balance is a huge issue.”

Getting it right

Although a significant number of employees indicated that they were poised to go after another job, others were positive about their jobs and employers. Of those surveyed, 36 percent said they “gained new respect for our leadership and our mission over the past year.”

Ashley Ross, development coordinator at Visually Impaired Preschool Services (VIPS), said she committed to the nonprofit sector because of the rewarding work. Her organization always has been supportive of understanding employees’ need for work-life balance, Ross said. “Before the pandemic began, my organization was already pretty understanding of remote work/flexible schedules. I worked in the office every day, but if I ever needed to be at home because of an appointment, there wasn’t push back; in fact, we are encouraged to make our work-life fit around our personal life,” she said.

While the flexible work schedule was a “nice-to-have” option for Ross, she now considers it a priority for any employment. “Since the pandemic started, I have now been working entirely from home for about a year and a half.,” she said. “I truly love working from home. Before the pandemic, I would only work remotely if I needed to be home for a specific reason. I would not have told my boss, ‘Hey, I don’t feel like getting out of my pajamas, so I will be working from home today.’ But now, knowing how much I can get done from the comforts of my home, I don’t feel the guilt I felt before by saying, ‘I would prefer to work from home today.’”

Ross said she also recognizes the benefits of collaborating with co-workers in the office. “My organization is in a very unique position because we are now finishing up our capital campaign to build a whole new facility for the families we serve and to also have a larger office space,” Ross said. “I am excited to get moved into our new space, have my own office, and engage with my co-workers again. However, I still intend to work at least a couple of days a week from home once we do move, and the organization is very understanding of that. The pandemic has shown employers that if you have trust in your employees, they can do their job well no matter their location. Having that freedom to choose where I work has been a huge reason why I plan on sticking around at my organization long term.”

Mark Koopman, executive director at Hoosier Burn Camp, Inc., shared the benefits of working for a smaller organization during a pandemic. “When you’re working for a smaller nonprofit, you can be more nimble because most folks are already wearing multiple hats. There wasn’t a paralysis,” Koopman said in a telephone interview. “We were able to come together and, say, ‘Let’s figure this out. How can we still serve our population in a way they deserve and need to be served?’ but, at the same time, realizing that business as usual needs to change.”

Because of the trust that already had been established within the organization, Koopman said that there was an ability to collaborate and move quickly as a team to come up with new ideas to reach constituents. “That’s part of our secret sauce,” he said. “Going through a challenge like that together, there’s an appreciation for the struggle. We were working in sync as a team. When you get through it, it’s not just an individual level of satisfaction. It was a collective satisfaction. There’s a sense of belonging. We felt like we got sucker punched as we made alterations to our programming, but we got smarter and better at it. In hindsight, we did a lot of things pretty well.”

Koopman also said that it was important to expect others’ opinions and stances during that time, whether based on religion, politics or COVID. “It’s important to meet people where they need to be met and respect where they’re at, whether it’s based on religion, politics or COVID,” he said.

Coping with burnout while focused on the mission

Patricia Cortellini, director of agency relations for Second Helpings, said the critical mission of the nonprofit organization was significantly heightened in the wake of the pandemic throughout 2020. Second Helpings distributed 1.8 million meals — up 75 percent from the 1.1 million distributed in the previous year.

“Our work became more important personally to each one of us,” Cortellini said. “Food is such a basic need. We all believed in the mission but the pandemic brought it home. We hear from a lot of people who were saying things like, ‘We didn’t get COVID because of your meals,’ ‘I’m home with COVID, so I can’t get out,’ or ‘We couldn’t leave the building because we’re immunocompromised.’”

Throughout 2020, the team at Second Helpings navigated numerous challenges, including implementing a hybrid work schedule and changing the model of how they delivered food. “Everything changed,” Cortellini said. “This year is harder than last year when our model included having the national guard here to get us in a rhythm.”

While the mission makes it all worthwhile, the day-to-day challenges can take a toll on employees on the frontlines, especially with the Delta variant resulting in another surge in COVID rates throughout Central Indiana, Cortellini said.

“People are getting burned out,” she said. “We don’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. It isn’t over yet.”

Some of that stress has been alleviated with hybrid work schedules, with employees alternating working from home and in the office. “Being able to work from home two days can give you a break from the day-to-day stress. and focus on projects without all the interruptions. We found staff can be very effective at home.”

However, she said, the clear advantages of meeting in person can’t be underestimated. “When we are able to meet face to face, so much more information gets relayed. You can read people’s expressions. It’s also hard to jump into a conversation during a Zoom meeting. I believe the hybrid model of working will stay with us.”

Developing a strategic retention/recruitment plan

Deirdre Byrd, director of HR consulting for VonLehman CPA & Advisory Firm, said nonprofit employers can gain a significant number of insights about what it takes to attract and retain employees as a result of the pandemic.

“COVID highlighted for employees and employers that much of the work that takes place can be done remotely,” Byrd said. A flexible schedule also allows for more work-life balance, she noted. “Instead of starting the day with a commute to the office, an employee could start earlier and take a break during lunch time to help kids with assignments,” Byrd said. “It’s not surprising that, on the side of it, we’re not going back to the way things were.”

As part of Byrd’s work, she’s hearing from many prospective employees who are prioritizing remote work, hybrid work or flexible schedules when vetting employers.

Nonprofit employers will need to move forward by being realistic about what they can and cannot offer current employees and new hires, Byrd said. “Value doesn’t necessarily have to come in the form of straight compensation,” she said. “It can be non-monetary, such as development … the opportunity to grow with the organization. It may not mean vertical growth; it may be lateral growth, with opportunities to further build skills.”

Byrd said leadership teams need to outline five key areas to have an impact on retention and recruitment, including making sure that each employee has the right skills for the position to increase alignment; identifying what sets you apart as an organization; connecting goals and expectations to the organization’s mission and performance; offering employee development plans and providing attractive compensation, including non-monetary benefits such as hybrid work/remote work, flexible work schedules, childcare or elder care and similar benefits to assist with employees’ personal lives.

Developing clear ways to address burn out also is critical, Byrd said. Throughout the organization, there should be efforts to ensure relationships are constructive, with schedules including one-to-one employee meetings and regular team meetings.

“It’s important to talk to employees, not only about work but get to know them as people,” she said. “Create an environment of trust, which is foundational to a safe environment where employees are supporting one another and can be their authentic selves. They should feel safe to experiment and try something new.”

Aug 23

NFPN Survey: What nonprofit employees really want

By Feature

HR experts predict Central Indiana nonprofits will need to be creative in combating high employee turnover

by Shari Finnell, editor/writer, Not-for-profit News

(First in a series of articles about Charitable Advisors’ NFPN “How Are You Doing?” survey)
Many nonprofit employees in Central Indiana appear to be dissatisfied, with 40 percent reporting that they’re likely to change jobs in the next 90 days, according to a Not-for-profit News survey of 461 respondents. Of those, 21 percent said there’s a 50 percent chance they would change jobs and 20 percent rated that possibility as “very likely” — at least a 70 percent chance.

That number shifts from 40 percent to nearly 54 percent when the timeline for a potential job change is expanded to “within the next 12 months.” According to the 2021 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, voluntary turnover — situations in which employees choose to leave their jobs — is typically 25 percent.

When asked what mattered to them most in a job, survey respondents cited flexible schedule (68 percent), higher pay (57 percent) and remote work (47 percent) as their top three criteria.

One survey respondent said, “Don’t make me come back to the office more. I am far more productive at home. There is no need to commute 1.5 to 2 hours in a day to attend a 1-hour meeting. If virtual worked at the height of the pandemic (when you wanted it) then it can still work now (when I want it).

Another said, “The culture at my institution is completely broken. Trust between the staff and leadership at the senior and board level has fully dissolved. Within my own department I don’t feel like there are advancement opportunities for me, but more broadly, many staff feel discouraged, undervalued, and heartbroken over continued institutional shortcomings. If my employer were to provide a clear advancement plan for me and work towards more transparency between leadership and the staff, I would love to stay.”

Burnout was cited as a major problem by numerous survey respondents. One employee responded, “Get me help. I cannot do this alone and I am drowning,” while another commented that they needed “more help in the office and fewer long nights.”

The survey findings reflect recent trends throughout the state of Indiana, according to Megan Nail, vice president, Total Rewards Practice, for First Person Advisors, and state director for the HR Indiana Society for Human Resource Management.

“I hear from HR professionals and employers throughout the state of Indiana, and what they’re dealing with,” Nail said. “The pandemic has impacted mental health, wages and our ability to recruit and retain employees. I have never seen anything like this in the 20 years that I’ve been in the profession.”

Chelsea DuKate, founder and HR people consultant for Red Envelope Consulting, said employers will need to consider remote work as the new normal — not the exception in the coming years.

Unlike years ago, when employees placed a high value on the type of office accommodations their employer offered, such as an office with large windows, that is no longer the case, DuKate said.

“There’s been a total shift around the flexibility of working from home. Leaving our house to commute to work for even 10 minutes is a barrier,” she said. “A lot of people are still recovering mentally from the ups and downs of 2020, and what we’re going through even now. It’s too much effort to go into the office. They don’t want to do it, and they don’t care if their bank account takes a hit.”

When determining how to proceed with a work policy, whether it’s a hybrid model or fully remote or fully in-person, it’s important to ensure that you include employees in the decision-making process, DuKate said.

“There has to be an employee voice in whatever decisions are being made,” she stressed. “Give employees the option to take a vote before determining what’s best. As long as they feel their voice is represented, employees may still decide to leave but not leave with a chip on their shoulder.”

DuKate also said that understanding and meeting employees’ needs can be a significant step in increasing retention rates. Many nonprofits, especially smaller organizations, are unable to compete with for-profit and larger organizations on salary, she pointed out.

Besides flexible schedules, higher pay and remote work, survey respondents cited several other ways that their current employer could enhance retention rates, including the following:

  • Stop micromanaging
  • Listen to ideas to stop the high rate of turnover
  • Offer more opportunities for growth and leadership
  • Transparency and better communication
  • Non-toxic culture
  • Higher pay, advancement, connection
  • Benefits in lieu of pay, possibly a shorter work week (four days would be lovely)
  • More frequent reminders that they value me
  • Increase my pay; I’ve only had two raises in 15 years
  • More employee appreciation beyond words
  • Reduce number of weekly meetings; slow pace down a bit
  • Comprehensive benefits
  • More time off options. There has been no break since COVID started. It’s taking a toll on the physical and mental health of our team and colleagues

When employees were asked how they felt about their leadership and organization’s mission, the survey responses were nearly evenly divided in their opinions:

  • 36 percent said they “gained new respect for our leadership and our mission over the past year.”
  • 35 percent reported feeling “the same about my employer as I did before the pandemic.”
  • 29 percent said they “lost confidence or respect for my employer over the past year.”

On the question related to their relationship with their supervisors, employees also were nearly even divided in their responses:

  • 37 percent rated their relationship with their supervisor as “excellent/very good”
  • 33 percent rated it as “pretty good”
  • 30 percent responded that they “don’t feel connected to my supervisors/leaders”

The survey findings point to the need for nonprofit organizations to be more creative and intentional in attracting and retaining employees, especially if there isn’t an option for significantly increasing pay, Nail said.

“As an employer, you need to ask, ‘What type of culture are you building?’ ‘How are you connecting that to your mission?’,” Nail said. “It all starts with communication and trust, especially during COVID. The world is so busy, and there’s so much we have going on at any time. If you’re having employees work remotely, you have to be even more intentional about communication, trust and relationships.”

Nail also said organizations should recognize the advantages of being in the nonprofit sector.

“Hopefully, the positive side of all this is that it’s forcing employers of all types — for profit and nonprofit — to be really creative about understanding their employees needs and coming up with unique ways to support them,” she said. “The good news for nonprofits is that it’s not all about money. That’s certainly a part of it but there is so much more than that.

“As human beings, many of us have stepped back and reassessed what we’re looking for in life. Nonprofits can play a really important part in answering that question by providing meaningful work. Employees can really feel like they’re contributing to making our community a better place. That’s a unique value proposition nonprofit employers can leverage during this time.”

Organizations that invest time and effort in enhancing workplace culture, management and mission building and offer flexibility will be able to more effectively compete for highly qualified employees, Nail said.

“People will think twice about leaving a good culture where they feel like there’s good communication, they believe in the mission, their supervisor supports them, and it’s a job that works with their personal life,” she said. “Those things are irreplaceable.”

Aug 09

Defaced #BlackLivesMatter mural recreated for museum exhibit — preserving a critical moment in history, organizers say

By Feature

by Shari Finnell, editor/writer, Not-for-profit News

Just over a year ago, Indianapolis native Deonna Craig was among a group of 18 artists who gathered in downtown Indianapolis — committing their talents and points of view to create a street mural during one of the most turbulent periods in American history.

Craig recalls the experience on Indiana Avenue as peaceful refuge, even as people gathered just outside of a barricade to protest them painting the phrase “#BlackLivesMatter” (BLM) on a segment of Indiana Avenue.

“It was like I was in a bubble,” recalls Craig, who included the names of people who had been killed by local police in the letter V, her contribution to the project approved by the City-County Council of Indianapolis and Marion County.

About a week later, the street mural was vandalized with splatters and streaks of gray paint — similar to the acts of vandalism on #BlackLivesMatter public artwork across the nation.

Craig, who regularly talks to youth at area schools about current events and the power of artistic expression as an art instructor, said the defacing of the mural did little to minimize the voices of the artists who gathered that day to raise awareness. While the vandalism was devastating, she said, it wasn’t entirely unexpected given the tensions in the community throughout 2020.

Unveiling of new BLM exhibit

And with a recent exhibit launched by The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis those moments will reach a larger audience — as many as the 1.2 million visitors who visit the destination each year.

Under a special initiative, the museum commissioned the artists to recreate miniaturized versions of their street artwork on 16×20 canvases, said Monica Ramsey Humphrey, director of exhibits and interactive media for The Children’s Museum. Of the 18 artists, 14 artists, including Craig, participated — recreating their artistic lettering and recording a video in which they share their personal stories, inspiration and experiences of how the mural impacted their lives. The exhibit also includes some of the concept art renderings, tools, shirts, badges and clothes the artists were wearing as part of the event.

“It’s an incredibly important movement,” Ramsey Humphrey said of the massive outpouring of people who demonstrated on behalf of the #BlackLivesMatter campaign. “The museum has a responsibility to collect and preserve moments in history for generations to come.”

Having hard conversations with youth

Craig, who regularly works with children as part of her community work, said it’s important to communicate with children what they were witnessing during that intense period of social unrest and demonstrations, and art is one of the most effective ways to bridge that understanding. Craig also is involved in the Visiting Artist Program for The Children’s Museum.

Like the exhibit, The Power of Children©, which will be expanded to add the story of Malala Yousafzai this year, the new #BlackLivesMatter exhibit will help educate children on difficult periods in American history, Ramsey Humphrey said.

“These are tough topics we want to tackle,” she added. “The exhibits play a part in bridging gaps and elevating voices and stories. We are able to give parents and children the information and tools needed to talk to one another about challenging issues that can be difficult to break down as an adult.”

Jul 26

What’s next?: As moratorium nears expiration date, Indiana faces an increasingly complex mix of challenges

By Feature

Threats of evictions, foreclosures and homelessness magnify the state’s shortage of affordable housing and adds pressure to frontline organizations

by Shari Finnell, editor/writer, Not for Profit News

With renovations recently completed on a two-bedroom, 1-bathroom home in Martindale-Brightwood, a neighborhood on Indianapolis’ Eastside, another family has the opportunity to get closer to one of the most heralded symbols of the American Dream: home ownership.

The house located on Manlove Avenue was completely gutted before being furnished with quality finishes and appliances, said Steven Meyer, CEO of Renew Indianapolis, which rehabbed the house — one of 20 affordable housing projects it will rebuild or rehab near Douglass Park in the Martindale-Brightwood neighborhood during the next three years.

“Our philosophy around affordable housing is that you shouldn’t be able to tell the difference between one of these houses or any other house,” Meyer said. “Whoever ends up in this home will not have to face constant problems with maintenance.”

The Manlove Avenue house also is symbolic of the massive challenge Indianapolis, like many other cities, is facing in producing enough affordable housing to accommodate increasing demand. With the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention moratorium on evictions expiring on Aug. 1, 2021, Meyer and other nonprofit leaders and city officials fear that Indianapolis will face a potential eviction crisis.

“One of the most difficult challenges facing frontline organizations is that the moratorium is lifting for everyone at the same time,” said Aaron Laramore, senior program officer for the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) Indianapolis, an organization that collaborates with residents, organizations, businesses and government officials to revitalize urban communities.

“It’s going to put a lot of pressure on affordable housing demand in Indianapolis,” Laramore added. “How many people are going to be evicted by their landlord once the moratorium is lifted? It will likely be a significant number, which will present a significant challenge for every frontline organization providing emergency needs for people. It may not happen immediately, but the process will start.”

Meyer also said that foreclosures and evictions could make hard hit neighborhoods more vulnerable, as they did with the Great Recession, “The need for affordable housing — affordable housing preservation — is at its highest level ever,” Meyer said. “During the great recession, we saw the neighborhoods hardest hit lose 20 percent of their homeowners. Currently, new affordable housing programs can’t keep up with demand.”

According to recent statistics:

  • Rent for Indianapolis properties continues to rise. As of June 2021, the monthly average had climbed to $1,047 — up from $968 in January 2020, according to data compiled from Apartment List.
  • Indiana is one of 10 states where more than 20% of renters are behind on their payments, according to the State of the Nation’s Housing 2021 report, recently released by the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University. Also, 53 percent of renters reported losing income during the pandemic. Comparatively, 8.4 percent of Indiana homeowners were behind on their payments, and 36.2 percent reported losing income.
  • Home prices continue to climb, another factor that can keep lower-income households out of the real estate market. In Central Indiana, the average home price of $250,000 is — 14.2% higher than it was in June 2020, according to MIBOR.
  • For the general market alone, Indianapolis is lagging behind a demand for 9,000 housing units a year, according to a recent MIBOR report, which states that “the Indianapolis region is underbuilding each year by 1,750 units.”

Laramore also noted that lower income households were financially stressed because many of them spend significantly more than the federal standard of 30 percent for their housing. “Affordable housing is absolutely part of the way we will recover — affordable housing and home ownership are the wealth building tools for the average person,” he said.

According to the report Out of Reach, released earlier this month, more than 145,000 extremely low-income renters in Indiana already were spending more than half of their incomes on housing — before the pandemic. The report, which was jointly released by the National Low Income Housing Coalition and Prosperity Indiana, found that full-time Indiana employees would need to earn $18.19 an hour for a modest two-bedroom apartment in Indianapolis. However, the average renter in Indiana makes $14.58 an hour. 

In response to the report, Jessica Love, executive director for Prosperity Indiana, said, “The cost of housing in Indiana just keeps rising, which means the state Housing Wage – what you really need to earn for your home to be affordable to you – keeps going up. Unfortunately, the average renter’s wage hasn’t risen much for Hoosiers, especially when compared to our Midwestern peers. And this only serves to widen the disparities experienced by the lowest income renters.”

While a significant amount of dollars are being dedicated to housing stabilization during the current crisis, including the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, long-term plans need to continue to focus on the evolving needs of low-income households, according to Laramore.

New construction also needs to recognize the needs of the changing American household. “The housing industry is built around the idea of a nuclear family, however that household type is no longer the most dominant,” Laramore said. “We have intergenerational households, single parents as head of the household. This changing demographic has different needs than the traditional nuclear family household. We need to pivot to align with what families look like now.”

Meyer said that recent developments are starting to reflect an awareness that different aspects of stabilization aren’t isolated. 

“Community development, in general, has acknowledged that different areas — affordable housing, economic development and supportive services — are all interrelated in a way that hasn’t happened in the past. We’re bringing all the resources people will need in a neighborhood to ensure they will have the most impact as possible.”

Jul 12

Faced with hiring and retention woes, an Indiana children’s home raises the stakes with a $100,000 salary for house parents

By Feature

The facility doubled the salary of its 2010 rates, and surpassed all similar salaries in the industry

by Shari Finnell, writer/editor Not for Profit News

When Richard Lapinski took over as executive director/CEO of the Indiana United Methodist Children’s Home (IUMCH), it quickly became apparent that he wouldn’t be there to win over friends. The Lebanon-based facility was facing serious challenges, including a significant cut in referrals from the Indiana Department of Child Services (DCS) — the primary source of its youth resident placements. Difficult decisions had to be made.

IUMCH only had about 27 youth residents, down from an average of 75 to 80 — more than a 60 percent reduction, Lapinski recalled. However, the facility still had more than 110 employees on its payroll — functioning with an infrastructure that had become outdated with the loss of residents. “And that number was rapidly decreasing for a number of reasons,” Lapinski said.

With awareness increasing about best practices for caring for troubled youth, many of whom had been abused or neglected in their previous homes, IUMCH wasn’t measuring up as a preferred placement facility. “Our organization didn’t really have the structure or appropriate behavioral models in place to care for the kids properly,” Lapinski said.

Since placements were being drastically cut and, consequently, revenue from the state, the facility had resorted to using $4.2 million from its endowment to cover operational costs, Lapinski noted. “They (IUMCH) have a very healthy endowment but that was not going to last long if we stayed on that track,” he said.

Lapinski, with the board’s approval, set in motion a series of recommendations that included investing in the construction of new facilities, training of employees under a new model of care, eliminating 55 positions and, eventually, boosting the salary of its house parents to a combined $100,000 — up from the $50,000 they were paid when he first arrived in 2010.

While the internal changes sent ripples throughout the organization, the decision to boost the salary of house parents made many other organizations take notice nationally. “It was sticker shock, in a positive way. You can get a lot of people’s attention,” Lapinski said of the significant salary hike, which was designed to address IUMCH’s challenges with attracting experienced house parents and retaining them. At the same time, it sent an unmistakable message about the critical role house parents had in delivering quality, caring services to youth on behalf of IUMCH.

The strategy worked. Highly qualified house parents, many working at larger, well-known institutions throughout the country, suddenly took interest in relocating to Lebanon, Ind., for the opportunity to work at IUMCH. “We, at one point, didn’t actively recruit,” Lapinski said of the surge in interest.

Initiating difficult discussions

Before arriving at the IUMCH in 2010, Lapinski had first-hand experience with understanding the unique challenges facing nonprofits dedicated to the care of youth facing numerous risk factors, such as abuse, neglect and abandonment. He had previously served as executive director of the Presbyterian Home for Children in Amarillo, Texas.

He and his wife, Stephanie, also served as family teachers for five years at Father Flanagan’s Boys Town in Omaha, Neb. In those roles, the couple lived in a family home with up to eight youth, providing 24/7 care.

It was that previous experience that convinced Lapinski that IUMCH had to overhaul its approach to caring for its youth residents, especially after he observed the day-to-day practices at the children’s home.

During his first meeting with IUMCH’s executive committee, which also was attended by board members, Lapinski was blunt. “I told them if I was a youth, I would hate to live here.,” he recalled. “It was more like a detention facility than a residential group home for youth. When I told them that, they looked at me and said, ‘We were always told that this was the best place in Indiana if you had to be placed out of the home.’”

At their next meeting, Lapinski showed them footage taken from cameras throughout the housing facility. Among them were instances of restraints of youth residents. “We would restrain you on a daily basis, so I showed them five restraints. I didn’t pick the worst five, I just ran it in a loop,” he recalled. “After I scraped their jaws off the table, then we were able to gather their thoughts.”

Lapinski also reminded them of the DCS’s decision to drastically reduce placements with their facility — another convincing sign that major changes were needed.

“We had gone for nine months without a referral from DCS,” he said. “Keep in mind, not even with their worst kid, one that they had a hard time finding a placement anywhere, we didn’t get that referral. So we needed to make some changes. And it was difficult because we had staff members who had been here for 20 and 30 years. They were ingrained in how they did things and didn’t want to make any changes.”

The team called an emergency meeting to discuss switching to a teaching family model, an evidence-based trauma informed care model approved by the American Psychological Association. “I really didn’t need to convince anybody … the writing was on the wall that we needed to make those changes,” Lapinski said. “DCS had stopped placing youth with us. They were picking the organizations that they were going to continue to utilize and we were not one of them.”

Moving toward an unprecedented pay scale

The IUMCH team arranged a visit to the Virginia Home for Boys and Girls, a facility that was similar to the Lebanon group home — and had fully transitioned to the teaching family model that was first implemented by Father Flanagan’s Boys’ Home. Currently, the Teaching Family Association has agencies throughout the United States and worldwide, including Australia, New Zealand and Canada that are using the model. Lapinski serves as the board president.

As a result of those initial meetings and tours, IUMCH committed to the construction of six new teaching family homes as a new state-of-the-art on-grounds school, which opened in 2015. They also agreed to eliminate 55 positions as they transitioned to the new model of care.
They soon realized the transformation of their care model could not end there. IUMCH was facing recruiting, hiring and retention challenges with family house parents — an experience that is common in the industry because of the intense demands of the position.

Under IUMCH’s job description, family house parents are a married couple who would commit to living within a group home. While they have their own private apartment, they are committed to caring for six to eight youth five to six days a week. “It’s such a unique position to try to hire for,” Lapinski said. “You need to find a couple that works together who are also trained in the family teaching model and really have a passion for the mission of caring for youth. At minimum, they’re working with the youth 80 hours a week.”

Currently, the average salary nationally for a teacher family couple is a combined $58,000.

“When I first started implementing the model (at IUMCH), we were paying $50,000 a couple — or $25,000 per person. It really isn’t that much money, but when you consider that housing, food and utilities is provided, it’s really like $72,000 to $75,000,” Lapinski said.

Although IUMCH was recruiting nationally — including in Alaska, Ohio, California, Nevada, Florida and Texas, they found it increasingly difficult to find house parents or family teachers, especially during periods in which the economy was stable. They increased the salary offer to $58,000 but still had challenges locating the right couples for vacant positions.

Lapinski said it was critical to find couples that were committed to the care of the youth. “If you really don’t have the passion and the commitment, you won’t last four to six months in this role. Not only is that bad for the organization, it’s absolutely terrible for our kids who already have reactive attachment disorder,” he said.

Faced with the prospect of closing one of its group homes due to the lack of staff, Lapinski said he analyzed how they could effectively recruit the best couples to fill the roles. The answer? Raising the salary for family teachers to $100,000 — at least more than $20,000 than any other organization paid for the position.

“Needless to say, we didn’t have a problem hiring family teachers and being able to drill down to find the most qualified couples that we could recruit,” Lapinski said. “It really put our organization in a wonderful place by providing stability. Our turnover is considerably lower now. The average turnover for a family teaching couple nationwide is 18 months. We’ve had couples here for four years.”

The investment in the salary increase was well placed, Lapinski said. “They’re worth every penny,” he said. “Our family teachers are truly the backbone of our organization.” The organization also increased the pay scale for assistant family teachers, who typically are recruited locally.

Lapinski noted that it wasn’t difficult to get buy-in from IUMCH’s board for the salary increase. “It was a lot easier than I thought it would be,” he said. “When we were faced with closing a home down because we couldn’t staff it, and that caught our board’s attention.”

Overall, the changes have been instrumental in helping IUMCH effectively carry out its mission. “We’re able to provide better services to the children we serve and achieve cost savings by reducing turnover and the rehiring and retraining of staff,” Lapinski said.

The organization also won the trust of the DCS, which now makes about 500 referrals a year to IUMCH, Lapinski said.

While the drastic changes were challenging at times, Lapinski said he never lost faith in the process. “You could call me the hatchet man,” he said. “However, I never lost a minute of sleep because I knew the end result was going to be much better for the kids.”

Jun 28

Hundreds of Hoosiers participate in free wellness program designed to combat stress, trauma, PTSD and burnout

By Feature

Eskenazi Health and Center for Mind Body Medicine training provides attendees with tools for healing in the midst of pandemic

by Shari Finnell, editor/writer, Not for Profit News

As experts seek to gain a better understanding of the long-term impact of COVID-19 on mental health, about 1,500 Hoosiers have recently enrolled in evidence-based training to proactively equip themselves with self-care tools, including meditation, guided imagery and biofeedback under Eskenazi Health’s Hoosier Heartland Healing Collaborative.

The free statewide initiative, which is sponsored by Eskenazi Health, in partnership with the Center for Mind Body Medicine, comes at a time when people are increasingly acknowledging the need for managing stress and trauma, said Megan Hider, Mind-Body Program supervisor at Eskenazi Health.

“I do think the conversation has really changed, in a good way, about how we think about stress, and our emotional health, spiritual health and how we physically function,” Hider said. “Wellness and mindfulness have become more mainstream throughout society. We’ve all been dealing with trauma and secondary trauma. We need to chip away at the stigma of trauma, whether it’s everyday trauma or a natural disaster, or whatever we experience.”

As part of the program, which was partially funded by the Herbert Simon Family Foundation, individuals participate in small groups of 8 to 10 people led by a facilitator who has gone through a two-part training program. The participants are asked to commit to a series of 2-hour weekly sessions during an 8-week period. As part of the training, participants learn numerous self-care skills that have been scientifically proven to lower levels of stress, improve mood, enhance resiliency and optimism, and help prevent chronic health conditions.

Hider said that the free training, which is open to any Indiana resident, can better equip first responders and other employees who are in a position of helping others. By learning the self-care techniques themselves, they can manage the stressors in their own lives so that they can better focus on helping others in challenging situations. “With everything we’ve been going through in the past year, it came at a perfect time,” she said.

The benefits of the training were quickly evident, said Christy Gauss, MSW, LSW, owner of SCP Consultants and a former school mental health facilitator for the Indiana School Mental Health Initiative. Gauss, who underwent intensive training to become a licensed group facilitator under the Mind Body program, said it was a powerful experience.

“I didn’t know what to expect when I went into it,” Gauss recalled. “You learn the science and skills of self-care in an environment where you have peer-to-peer support. It’s all about you and what it means in your own life before you start learning how to teach everyone else.”

Gauss said that type of firsthand learning is essential for those who support others, including first-responders, teachers and nonprofit employees. The potential for burnout can be significant for these groups, she added.

“You have to learn how stress is impacting you first,” she said. “You need to put on your own oxygen first, which we can be very bad at.”

Hider said the training can be very empowering for the attendees, who are able to devote an uninterrupted span of time to focus on themselves during each session. “It gives you space to become self-aware of your feelings, emotions and body sensations,” she said. “You’re able to learn about the physiology of the body and what happens when you’re stressed and when you’re calm.

“You are given the ability to heal yourself in a unique way that doesn’t happen in other spaces,” Hider added. “If we want to show up to places of service and places of community, we must be advocates for ourselves.”

For more information about the Eskenazi Health Hoosier Heartland Healing Collaborative or to sign up for a session, visit the program’s site here.

Jun 14

Pandemic reveals the challenges in eliminating inequities among Hoosier students

By Feature

Local nonprofit leaders predict a complex journey in addressing underlying issues

by Shari Finnell, editor/writer, Not for Profit News

Like many other nonprofit organizations, the team at Christel House Indianapolis had to quickly assess how to carry out its mission in spite of COVID-19 restrictions in early 2020 — an endeavor that revealed many of the challenges facing the students they serve.

“When the pandemic hit last March, our board members and our entire team came together and realized that the pandemic was not just going to last for a couple of weeks,” said Dr. Sarah Weimer, executive director of Christel House Indianapolis.

It was a critical undertaking as they considered the potential for educational setbacks among Christel House students living in some of the most under-resourced communities in Indianapolis. The closing of school buildings for 2,300 K-12 students and 750 adult learners would require addressing any challenges in their home environments.

Technology was identified as a priority, and the team implemented a plan to distribute devices to each of their students at their Indianapolis schools. However, that plan only addressed part of the equation. “They had the device but couldn’t access the Internet to download their assignments,” Weimer said. “We discovered that over 50 percent of our students in Indianapolis did not have access to WiFi.”

Although telecommunications companies offered discounted and free internet service for students in low-income households during the pandemic, more challenges came their way. “Providers were having deals for families to get free internet, but they had barriers,” Weimer said. “If you owed a bill, you couldn’t get free access. If you didn’t have a social security number, you couldn’t get access.” Through a partnership with the Indianapolis Mayor’s Office and a fundraising initiative, Christel House was able to purchase data packages totaling $10,000 a month to support their students. 

In looking back, Weimer said the pandemic further revealed the inequities that already existed based on demographics and neighborhoods. “The inequity question is one that we’re going to be grappling with for years to come,” Weimer said. “We don’t have a good grasp of how impoverished communities and communities of color were impacted by the pandemic. We know statistically but we don’t have an understanding of the toll, including the emotional and mental toll.

“There’s going to be a lot to unpack for the kids,” she added. “Besides academic and learning loss, the students we serve come from backgrounds where they need additional mental health services, food insecurity and childhood trauma, all of which were exacerbated by the pandemic,”

Dennis E. Bland, president of the Center for Leadership Development, an organization that equips African American youth with education, business and community leadership opportunities, including scholarships, said that the pandemic highlighted varying mindsets about the value of an education — a gap that must be addressed to ensure that equity is achieved.

Bland said there often is a perception that everyone understands the opportunities that are open to an individual who is committed to advancing their education. However, he said, that lack of understanding can be at the root of some inequities.

Students, especially those growing up in households where the importance of an education is stressed, will more likely take advantage of tutoring, counseling, summer classes, college prep and other programs that are available to them. “Students who were committed to taking advantage of those resources were the students who did the best,” he said. “It’s not necessarily the lack of resources, it’s a lack of understanding about the value of an education.”

Bland said the conversation must start there — educating students and their family about the value of an education. “It is the duty of caring people in our community to encourage students to study and to take advantage of these resources — not whether or not you feel like it. This is about whether or not you want to be successful. Success often means doing the opposite of what you feel.”

“We need to give more people an education on education,” Bland added. “We struggle as a society because we go along as if we think that people innately value education and learning.”

The challenges in understanding the impact of the pandemic on students is multi-faceted, Weimer agreed. “It’s not just about academic preparedness,” she said. We must address the social and emotional issues that have been confounded during the pandemic year. We will be focusing on those issues during the upcoming year.”

Christel House has had a history of addressing those complexities as part of the support it provides students. “We follow our students for five years after they graduate,” Weimer explained. “Poverty isn’t alleviated just because they graduated. The hurdles they have to overcome don’t magically disappear after they get a diploma.”

The organization tailors a support plan for each student, depending upon their specific needs. As they navigate college or other educational and career paths, each high school graduate stays in contact with college and career administrators who are aware of the potential barriers to their success.

“They (students) can proactively reach out if they need gas cards if they lose a job. If they have a job interview, we can help them secure interview clothes,” Weimer said. “We may have students in college who will sign up for classes and realize their books are not covered by financial aid. We’ll pay for their books.”

Navigating the complexities of college, like understanding what a Bursar’s Office is, can be difficult for first-generation high school graduates or first-generation college-goers, especially since they can’t go to their families for direction, Weimer added. “Some things are foreign for a large portion of our families,” she said.

While these challenges were already familiar to Christel House, the pandemic shed more light on some of the hurdles facing students who are in households where English is a second language. 

Many families with children learning at home are able to easily stand in and help them adjust and assist with questions related to their studies, Weimer noted. However, about 50 percent of the Christel House Indianapolis students live in households where the adults don’t speak English or who don’t engage with computers on a day-to-day basis.

“When they’re trying to help their child navigate assignments or instructions, there’s a language barrier,” Weimer said. “We need to do a better job of paying attention to low-income households, communities of color, immigrants so that we can do a better job of outreach, equitable practices and equitable access.”

May 25

Circle Up Indy’s 5th Annual Peace Festival raises awareness about ongoing needs in disadvantaged neighborhoods

By Feature

by Shari Finnell, editor/writer

James C. Wilson, CEO and founder of the nonprofit organization Circle Up Indy, vividly recalls the day he was interviewed by a TV journalist for a story about his volunteerism in Martindale-Brightwood — an Eastside Indianapolis neighborhood plagued by poverty and high unemployment rates.

At the time, Wilson, who grew up in the neighborhood, was astonished that many of his neighbors were calling out to him during the taping … asking him to be a spokesperson on their behalf. “Tell them about the sidewalks! Politicians don’t care about us!,” Wilson said, recalling some of the pleas directed at him.

Those voices stuck with him, prompting him to step beyond his volunteerism to launch Circle Up Indy in 2014. The organization is focused on advocating for initiatives to transform impoverished neighborhoods in Indianapolis and surrounding counties, including Martindale-Brightwood.

Circle Up Indy also hosts an annual festival that is designed to raise awareness and intentionally discuss and address socio-economic disadvantages many black and minority families experience and to increase community accountability across the city, according to an organization statement.

Due to COVID-19, the festival was cancelled in 2020, Wilson said, but the 5th Annual Peace Festival is on for this year. It is scheduled for July 10, from noon to 7 p.m., at Frederick Douglass Park on the Park’s 100th Anniversary. Because of the late start in determining whether the festival would go on as scheduled, Wilson and his team are still seeking commitments for vendors and partners.

Wilson, who also has a podcast through a WISH-TV partnership, acknowledges that he sometimes feels overwhelmed with his role in transforming his childhood neighborhood and others like it. He said he feels a responsibility to advocate for transformation, which, in all too many cases, seems to be a slow process.

“I’m honored but I’m terrified. I just want to help people,” Wilson said. “There’s a lot of pressure on me to change things but at times it seems we’re barely pushing the needle. I’m watching friends and family die.”

Wilson, who spent most of his formative years — since the age of 10 — in and out of prison, has first-hand knowledge of the challenges facing some of the youth and families in troubled neighborhoods. “I never had a father teach me how to be a man. The streets taught me what I thought it meant to be a man,” he said.

During his last stint in prison, the trajectory of Wilson’s life took a turn for the better. He met several older inmates who saw his untapped potential. “These brothers taught me so much about life,” he said. “They kept reiterating, ‘they can take your body, but they can’t take your mind.’”

When Wilson was released after serving eight years of a 10-year prison term on a robbery conviction, he thought about those invaluable lessons and attended Ivy Tech, where he became active in volunteerism, including serving as student body president, regularly participating in Lilly Global Day of Service, and serving as president of Collegiate 100, an affiliate of 100 Black Men of Indianapolis.

It was then that his community work caught the attention of a television station, which led to that unforgettable exchange with his neighbors. “After that interview, I didn’t know what to do about all the issues going on in my community … no resources, no jobs, no housing opportunities, lack of quality education,” Wilson said. “They feel snubbed because they don’t see development in their community.”

He considered what he could do to encourage an investment of resources in the community to change outcomes, including health-related programs to address mental health and addiction.

Through Circle Up Indy, he has seen progress but not as much as he had hoped for seven years ago. He is encouraged that an increasing number of individuals representing various organizations have taken the time to visit the Martindale-Brightwood neighborhood, including executive leaders from Central Indiana Community Foundation, Lilly Endowment, Inc., and Community Health Network, a major sponsor of the 5th Annual Peace Festival.

He noted major milestones such as the opening of a 15,000-square-foot library in 2020 and the Kipp Indy Legacy High, a high school that was founded in 2019.

Wilson noted that housing is a major issue in the community. “Education is always a concern but it’s offset when you have housing issues,” he said. “No one feels comfortable in school if their home situation is not stable.”

Earlier this year, the city of Indianapolis announced that $3.5 million would be invested in the Martindale-Brightwood neighborhood as part of the Lift Indy program. Under the initiative, at least 10 low-income households will have the opportunity for homeownership through career coaching and home repair.

Wilson said he is hopeful that more changes are coming for Martindale-Brightwood through a strategic, comprehensive plan that takes into account the root causes of the problems in the neighborhood — not just the data.

“It’s just the beginning,” Wilson said. “It takes a community. Not just me. It takes all of us.”

About the 5th Annual Peace Festival

The event, which takes place on July 10, from noon to 7 p.m., at Frederick Douglass Park, offers a wide range of information and resources staffed by local organizations who will help the community focus on addressing untreated trauma, slow economic development, and community accountability through effective programs, resources, employment, entrepreneurial development, and educational opportunities.

The Community Health Network Pavilion (Healthcare Zone), staffed by Community Health Network physicians, nurses, and volunteers, will provide attendees with blood pressure checks, free COVID-19 vaccines, mental health education, and other health-related wellness education.

The festival also will feature carnival games, drawings, prizes, kid zone activities, animal attraction, food and live entertainment.

Circle Up Indy is inviting vendors, exhibitors and volunteers to register to participate. Vendors can register here, exhibitors can register here and volunteers can register here.

May 10

Addressing Indianapolis’ food desert challenges

By Feature

by Shari Finnell, editor/writer, Not for Profit News

For many Indianapolis residents, the ritual of getting dinner on the table throughout the week may involve a combination of trips to the grocery store, takeout and delivery from a few favorite restaurants or, as an increasingly popular option, meal kit delivery subscriptions.

Those options are rarely available for at least 208,000 people living in Indianapolis neighborhoods that fall into the category of food deserts, according to “Getting Groceries,” a report published by SAVI in 2019. The report, which tracked the number of people who live in low-income areas with no grocery stores and healthy food options easily accessible by public transportation, revealed a 10 percent increase from 2016 to 2019 — just one year before the COVID-19 pandemic, an event that likely further exacerbated food access challenges.

With grocery retailers closing, as in the case of Marsh in 2017, and others opening or expanding in non-food desert areas of the city, corporations, nonprofits and government leaders have announced plans in recent months to fill the gap.

One of the most recent developments is a proposed14,000-square-foot grocery store near 38th Street and Sheridan Avenue — a location that has been designated as a food desert. Cook Medical, Inc., based in Bloomington, Ind., announced it is collaborating with numerous nonprofit organizations and neighborhood leaders to prepare for the opening of Indy Fresh Market in 2022. The partners include Goodwill of Central & Southern Indiana, The Indianapolis Foundation, IMPACT Central Indiana, Martin University, the State of Indiana, City of Indianapolis, and the United Northeast Community Development Corporation.

In another recent development, the state of Indiana approved a pilot project that would provide $600,000 to an individual or entity opening a grocery store in a low-income area “where access to resources for food is limited in a consolidated city.” The money is to be used specifically for providing training and acquiring equipment for a store being opened by people who already have private funding to build or rent a building.

Also, Local Initiative Support Corporation (LISC) and the Anthem Foundation are issuing a series of grants — totaling $2.45 million — under Equitable Food Systems in Indianapolis Neighborhoods, an initiative to increase food access and food security in food deserts. Those applying for the grants may offer a range of options, from community kitchens to urban gardens, grocery stores or mobile markets. 

Ultimately, these latest developments in Central Indiana can make a significant impact in health outcomes for people who currently live in food deserts, said Unai Miguel Andres, a GIS and data analyst for The Polis Center, which launched the SAVI project.

“Having a grocery store will allow you to make more health-conscious choices,” Miguel Andres says. “Living in areas that are lower income can deprive you of healthy food access, which can lead to serious health consequences such as obesity and diabetes. The assumption is that they will be able to improve their health outcomes because of the ease of being able to access healthy foods.”

Miguel Andres also said that it is important to understand the distinction between food insecurity and food access.

“Food access, in general, has gotten worse with Marsh closing (throughout the city) and Kroger closing in economically deprived areas where there’s nothing else,” he said. “That’s the access part. During the pandemic, from an economic point of view, many people lost their jobs and joined those classified as low-income.”

As a result, this new group of people are considered food insecure, Miguel Andres added. “Whether you have the means to access healthy food options, you’re facing food insecurity. The grocery store may be right in front of your house, but you may not be able to afford to shop there,” he said.

Under the Cook Medical partnership, the manufacturer will build the store and IMPACT Central Indiana will provide start-up capital. Two entrepreneurs, Michael McFarland and Marckus Williams, who are from the neighborhood will oversee the day-to-day operations, according to Cook Medical. McFarland and Williams will undergo training at Martin University, which offers business administration degrees. As part of the plan, the entrepreneurs will eventually take over ownership of the grocery store as part of a lease-to-own model.

“Food deserts exist throughout our state,” said Pete Yonkman, president of Cook Medical and Cook Group in a press release. “They are in our cities and in our rural communities. And we know that more than a quarter of Black Hoosiers live in a food desert. The challenges around food insecurity exacerbates already present health inequalities that can impact many generations to come. Michael and Marckus started with an idea to invest in this community and we, along with the many other partners, are excited to support them in this journey.”

Yonkman also said that the project could serve as a model that could be replicated by other partnerships. “With the support of Martin University to provide an educational curriculum for grocery store operations, our hope is that this project can serve as a model that can be replicated in other neighborhoods and communities,” he said “We’re focused on creating a sustainable business model that supports community ownership and continued education so Northeast Indy can reach its full potential.”

Miguel Andres anticipates that partnerships among various entities and individuals are likely to continue as the benefits of healthy food access are increasingly realized. “Nonprofits, hospital and health systems, and community organizations are coming together to open stores in underserved areas because they know there are benefits — healthwise — in providing these resources,” he said.

Apr 19

Can we end homelessness in Indianapolis?: We may be getting closer

By Feature

Community leaders announce plans to build 96 more permanent housing solutions as part of a comprehensive plan to end and prevent homelessness by 2024

by Shari Finnell, editor/writer, Charitable Advisors

The road to homelessness can be complex — with individuals and families experiencing varying factors that can lead to them living on the street, in parks or in vehicles, as outlined in Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City. In the Pulitzer Prize-winning book, sociologist Matthew Desmond provides a rare look into the lives of several individuals who failed to avoid homelessness in Milwaukee.

After years of analyzing the homeless population in Indianapolis, city officials and community leaders realize they still don’t have all the answers — but are hopeful that a comprehensive approach that includes a continuum of care, hundreds of new supportive permanent housing units and rental assistance can put them on the path to ending homelessness by 2024, said Chelsea Haring-Cozzi, the executive director of the Coalition for Homelessness Prevention and Intervention.

While many cities have traditionally focused on short- to medium-term solutions that focus on stabilizing housing within a 12- to 24-month time period, the Indianapolis Continuum of Care (CoC), a coalition of public and private organizations and individuals, has shifted the focus on more permanent solutions for homeless people in Indianapolis, Haring-Cozzi said.

As part of that plan, the CoC recently announced plans to build 96 permanent housing solutions with a $37 million grant awarded by the state of Indiana. The Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority (IHCDA) has chosen three supportive housing developments in Indianapolis for this year’s round of Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC). The three local developments will create 96 new units of permanent supportive housing for individuals experiencing homelessness in Indianapolis.

The projects include:

  • Hanna Commons, 2800-2910 E. Hanna Ave., Indianapolis, Ind., 46227. Awarded $1.2 million annually for 10 years to provide 50 supportive housing units for individuals experiencing homelessness.
  • St. Lucas Lofts, 2810 E. New York St., Indianapolis, Ind., 46201. Awarded $1.08 million annually for 10 years to provide 50 affordable housing units for youth experiencing homelessness.
  • Compass on Washington Street, 1033 East Washington St., Indianapolis, Ind., 46202, awarded $1.2 million annually for 10 years and $900,000 in Housing Trust Funds to develop 36 supportive housing units for individuals experiencing homelessness.

Construction on all three housing developments is expected to start later this year with an anticipated completion date by the end of 2022. All three developments qualify for Indianapolis Housing Authority vouchers. These projects bring the city of Indianapolis and the CoC closer to its goal of developing 500 new supportive housing units by 2024. Currently, there are 360 supportive housing units under development in the city.

The plan is also focused on preventing homelessness. Haring-Cozzi noted that the pandemic, as of yet, has not contributed to a noticeable uptick in the number of homeless people in Indianapolis as some people had feared.

“When counts were analyzed in January 2021, compared to last January, Indianapolis didn’t see much of a change,” she said. “Even before COVID, Indianapolis was among the few communities nationwide that wasn’t seeing the same type of uptick in homelessness.”

However, the impact of COVID-19 may still need to be realized, she said. The next few months may reveal how if there will be any sustainable fallout caused by the pandemic. “We’re hopeful eviction moratoriums have curbed the impact of the loss of housing and the loss of income, along with people getting rental assistance,” she said.