As we prepare for our week-long celebration of Small Business Week, we wanted to take the opportunity to shine a spotlight on the eight businesses from the LISC Microenterprise Navigator Program located at Martindale Brightwood CDC and SEND that will be participating in our 4th and final small business week event: Pitch Night. These participating
Caroline is the Education & Workforce Development Coordinator VISTA for the IndyEast Promise Zone. She is a long-time Irvington neighborhood resident and has a deep love for the diverse population of Indianapolis. For Caroline, it was an easy decision to accept the opportunity to serve in the Promise Zone. She says, “There were a lot
In our first installment of the “Our People, Their Stories” interview series, we interviewed Kimberly Woolfolk, the Economic Development Coordinator VISTA.
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
This month, the near eastside of Indianapolis was chosen to be a Promise Neighborhood by the U.S. Department of Education. With this designation comes $30 million worth of funding over the next 5 years funneled towards improving our neighborhood schools. This level of resource will allow for the neighborhood to achieve the goals that have
This quarter, the Promise Zone hosted two successful holiday-themed vaccine events. In October, our VISTA team planned a Treat on Tenth Street, a festive fall gathering, where families were able to come celebrate the season and learn more about the COVID-19 vaccine. The event included a bounce-house, trunk-or-treat, food from Chuck’s Coney Island, a photo