Liz Sheldon Named to ACLU of Indiana Board of Directors We are very proud to announce that the ACLU of Indiana has named Promise Zone Team member Liz Sheldon to its Board of Directors! Liz began serving her three-year term on January 18th. She also serves as the Community & Neighborhood Development Coordinator here at
It’s time to update the Near Eastside Quality of Life Plan, and we need your input. All Near Eastside neighbors are invited to come and make their voices heard as we update, modify, and add to the Plan in our new ‘Community Conversations’ format. Each Community Conversation will center around two Focus Areas – each
The Black Mountain Visioning Project will host its final public meeting Thursday, June 16th at Purdue Polytechnic High school. This will include a formal presentation and will take place from 5:30 to 7 pm. For more context, the former Black Mountain site (3500 block of E. Washington Street) is getting cleaned. A large mountain of
A new business has moved onto E 10th, and this time it’s Black-owned, women-owned bookstore Beyond Barcodes. The business previously was located in Kokomo but has recently found its way to the near eastside of Indianapolis. Owner DeAndra Beard-Ingram recently held an opening celebration that included writing events, cupcakes, and local artisans to celebrate the
The community came together this past Saturday to set forth goals and expectations for the future of Brookside Elementary School (School 54). The school intends to follow the lead of another Near Eastside elementary school, Thomas Gregg Neighborhood School, and implement a community school model in the coming years. The Community School Model, which effectively
This week, Poetic Justice will begin recruitment as part of the Byrne’s Criminal Justice Innovation grant awarded to John Boner Neighborhood Centers, along with co-applicant Shepherd Community Center, in 2018. The Byrne’s Criminal Justice Innovation grant, as awarded by the US Department of Justice, supports, “the Department’s priority to reduce serious and violent crime, including
This February, Thomas Gregg celebrated Black History Month in a big way. The whole school came together to make this a Black History Month for all of their students to remember, from a 2nd grade wax museum to an incredible poster display on their library windows. First, Thomas Gregg 2nd graders worked all month putting
Legacy Center Celebrates 10 Year Anniversary When Indianapolis hosted the Super Bowl 10 years ago, the NFL’s $1 million gift was leveraged by the Near Eastside to raise additional private donations from Lilly Endowment, JP Morgan Chase, NFL Charities, Lumina Foundation, United Water, NFL Youth Football Fund, LISC, and United Way of Central Indiana to
In response to the devastating economic effects of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, Near East Area Renewal (NEAR), with support of the IndyEast Promise Zone, initiated an interactive campaign from November 9th to the 22nd to increase traffic for food and beverage establishments in the Near Eastside. Event participants were instructed to purchase a meal from
The Build Fund recently received an $800,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office of Community Services (OCS) that will address community barriers and improve revitalization efforts by providing technical assistance and loans to businesses in the Promise Zone and surrounding Opportunity Zones. A significant portion of the funds are