INDIANAPOLIS (October 15, 2019) – Prosperity Indiana is pleased to announce two awards totaling $50,000 from The Indianapolis Foundation to support the Opportunity Starts at Home (OSAH) Indiana Campaign. A $15,000 grant was awarded by The Indianapolis Foundation, a Central Indiana Community Foundation affiliate. Another $35,000 grant is being supported through the Family Stabilization Investment Plan of The Indianapolis Foundation.

In advance of these awards, the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) announced in July 2019 its endorsement of Prosperity Indiana as its official OSAH state campaign for Indiana. Through the OSAH – Indiana Campaign, Prosperity Indiana will seek to engage and unite non-housing groups alongside the housing sector to highlight the importance of adequate, affordable housing in strong neighborhoods, with a focus on expanding investment in and access to affordable housing, and spark systems change in furtherance of equitable affordable housing. The campaign will initially focus on civil rights, economic mobility and health, which are part of the NLIHC’s OSAH recognized sectors.

The goal of the Indiana OSAH campaign is to achieve increases in affordable housing through existing and new housing infrastructure; direct support to organizations supporting those who are unstably housed or experiencing homelessness; and voucher supports that fund deeply targeted housing assistance for extremely low-income (ELI) households. This includes vulnerable populations, such as youth, seniors and those with disabilities. The coalition will also seek to implement policy change to reduce federal and state barriers to housing stability.

“We are thrilled about our new role as the Indiana coalition lead for the national Opportunity Starts at Home campaign,” said Jessica Love, Executive Director of Prosperity Indiana. “With CICF’s generous support, we’ll be launching this initiative to pull together multi-sector partners to move the needle on the availability of decent, affordable housing for the state. We can accomplish this by securing the additional resources needed to see real impact in interconnected health, education, economic mobility, racial equity and housing outcomes.”

Since its founding in 1986, Prosperity Indiana has used its broad membership base to help Hoosiers meet their basic needs, preserve and expand affordable housing, and connect individuals and families to education, employment, and economic opportunity. The organization has become the premier convener and advocacy voice in Indiana’s community development landscape and has established its presence as an authority on housing and community development policy.

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About Prosperity Indiana

The Indiana Association for Community Economic Development d/b/a Prosperity Indiana builds a better future for our communities by providing advocacy, leveraging resources, and engaging an empowered network of members to create inclusive opportunities that build assets and improve lives. Since its founding in 1986, Prosperity Indiana has grown to nearly 200 members from the public, private, and nonprofit sectors.

About the Central Indiana Community Foundation
Central Indiana Community Foundation (CICF) is a catalyst for progress, and a supporter of visionary ideas with the power to improve our community and the lives of its residents. CICF was established in 1997 as a partnership between The Indianapolis Foundation, serving Marion County since 1916, and Hamilton County Community Foundation, serving Hamilton County since 1991.

About the National Low Income Housing Coalition

Founded in 1974, National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) educates, organizes and advocates to ensure decent, affordable housing for everyone. NLIHC’s goals are to preserve existing federally assisted homes and housing resources, expand the supply of low income housing, and establish housing stability as the primary purpose of federal low income housing policy.

INDIANAPOLIS (October 11, 2019) – Prosperity Indiana is pleased to announce an award of $100,000 from the Fifth Third Foundation for the Community Development Capacity Building Initiative. The Initiative will provide organizational capacity development support and training to Community Housing Development Organizations (CHDOs), Community Development Corporations (CDCs), Community Action Agencies (CAAs), and other organizations from the public, private, and nonprofit sectors across Indiana.

“We are proud to partner and support Prosperity Indiana with this Strengthening Our Communities Grant. This is a great example of Fifth Third’s commitment to create impact in our communities through inclusive lending, investments and services,” said Jadira Hoptry, Vice President of Community and Economic Development.

The goal of Prosperity Indiana’s capacity building initiative is to create, enhance and develop nonprofit capacity that expands the scale, reach, efficiency and effectiveness of the organizations’ housing activities. Approximately half of the granted amount will support the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority’s (IHCDA) Moving Forward 2020 initiative. Moving Forward challenges affordable housing developers to utilize a systems approach to address multiple issues impacting residents and communities. This grant will underwrite the costs of this mandatory workshop for program participants. The balance will go toward workshops, trainings, and webinars focused on compliance, organizational development, professional certification, and leadership. Trainings and technical assistance will be offered beginning in 2020. 

“Fifth Third has become a vital partner in the work of Prosperity Indiana and our members in their footprint. This award is yet another example of how we are able to do more to strengthen our communities when in concert with other organizations that are genuinely working to make a difference in the Hoosier state,” said Jessica Love, Executive Director of Prosperity Indiana. “We look forward to supporting Fifth Third’s goal of building the capacity of our critical community development infrastructure across the state.”

Since its founding in 1986, Prosperity Indiana has helped Hoosiers meet their basic needs, preserve and expand affordable housing, and connect individuals and families to education, employment, and economic opportunity by partnering with a broad membership base. The organization has become the premier convener and advocacy voice in Indiana’s community development landscape, and has established its presence as an authority on housing and community development policy.

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About Prosperity Indiana

The Indiana Association for Community Economic Development d/b/a Prosperity Indiana Prosperity Indiana builds a better future for our communities by providing advocacy, leveraging resources, and engaging an empowered network of members to create inclusive opportunities that build assets and improve lives. Since its founding in 1986, Prosperity Indiana has grown to more than 150 members from the public, private, and nonprofit sectors.

About the Fifth Third Foundation

Founded in 1948, the Fifth Third Foundation was one of the first corporate philanthropic foundations established by a financial institution. In 2018, the Foundation awarded $12.1 million in grants in the areas of arts and culture, education, civic and community, and health and human services.

IFF improves the world by strengthening nonprofits and the communities they serve. As a mission-driven leader, real estate consultant, and developer, IFF helps communities thrive by creating opportunities for low-income communities and persons with disabilities.

The Director of Lending provides leadership and management of all regional lending activities. The significant focus of the Director will be Indianapolis, but the region includes the state of Indiana, and Louisville, KY. The Director will provide input for and execute regional business development and sales activities derived from IFF's regional marketing strategy. He/She is responsible for sourcing, underwriting and closing loans to target market borrowers and maintaining relationships with key borrowers. The Director assists the Managing Director of Lending to develop and maintain visibility and relationships with nonprofits and relevant government, association networks, and others to promote IFF.

Click here for the full position description and application instructions. 

The Center For Neighborhoods (CFN) is seeking a motivated, skilled Executive Director with experience in nonprofit administration, organizational development, and grassroots community planning and development. The Executive Director oversees the day-to-day operation of the organization working to fulfill and expand the CFN mission; directs the programs and initiatives of the organization including the core areas of Community Engagement, Education and Training, and Planning and Design; as well as manages all administrative functions including Fund Development, Donor Relations, and Human Relations. An important aspect of the position will be to implement the newly adopted three-year strategic plan, including developing and initiating new strategic work in support of grassroots community development in Louisville. 

For over 45 years, CFN has supported and empowered neighborhoods to create stronger and more vibrant communities using an asset based community development philosophy. We work in relationship driven neighborhood engagement, leadership development education, and community based planning and design, along with a focus on community development, creating a sense of place, and improving the built environment. CFN envisions a Louisville community of unique neighborhoods led by engaged neighbors creating places that provide a high quality of life and equitable access to opportunity for all people. 

Click here for more information on the position and how to apply. 

INDIANAPOLIS – Today, the Opportunity Starts at Home campaign announced Prosperity Indiana as a new state partner. This national effort is aimed at building multi-sector partnerships to address the urgent housing needs of low-income people across the country. The Opportunity Starts at Home – Indiana Coalition (OSAH-IN)  will unite housing and non-housing sector partners throughout the state to advance solutions that address the lack of quality, affordable housing in Indiana.

Robust research shows that affordable housing is central to gains in health, food security, education, and economic mobility outcomes. Despite this evidence, gaps between rent and income are growing and exacerbated by a shrinking supply of affordable housing and inadequate federal housing assistance. OSAH-IN will work to build momentum for proven solutions to end homelessness and housing instability.

 “By uniting housing advocates with multi-sector partners dedicated to improving health, social justice, and economic mobility, we will build stronger communities that benefit all Hoosiers,” said Jessica Love, Executive Director of Prosperity Indiana. “We are excited to expand our alliance and build on the momentum of this national movement to ensure more Americans have the opportunity to prosper with access to safe, stable affordable housing."

OSAH-IN expands on Prosperity Indiana’s efforts to ensure all Hoosiers live and work in an environment that provides equitable access to economic and social opportunity. Prosperity Indiana and Housing Action Illinois join the campaign’s original state partners in California, Idaho, Maine, New Jersey, Ohio, Oregon, and Utah. Prosperity Indiana will benefit from the experiences shared in the peer learning group with other states and will gain access to additional research, national network partners, and technical assistance from the national campaign. 

“We are thrilled to welcome both Housing Action Illinois and Prosperity Indiana as state partners of the Opportunity Starts at Home campaign,” said Mike Koprowski, National Campaign Director.  “Together, we will build a broad-based movement to end housing poverty and homelessness.”

The goal of OSAH-IN will be to achieve ambitious increases in affordable housing — through existing and new housing infrastructure; and direct support to organizations supporting those who are unstably housed or homeless. The Indiana coalition will also seek to expand voucher supports that fund deeply targeted housing assistance for extremely low-income households, including vulnerable populations, such as youth, seniors and those with disabilities. The coalition will also seek to implement policy change to reduce federal and state barriers to housing stability.

For more details about this effort, visit http://prosperityindiana.org/OSAH. To find out how to join this alliance, contact OSAH@prosperityindiana.org.

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About Indiana Association for Community Economic Development D/B/A Prosperity Indiana

Prosperity Indiana is a statewide membership organization for the individuals and organizations strengthening Hoosier communities. Prosperity Indiana believes in a society where all persons can live and work in an environment that provides equitable access to economic and social opportunity.

Prosperity Now has released all-new local data in the 2019 Prosperity Now Scorecard. Check out the Prosperity Now Scorecard site to find data around Financial Assets & Income, Businesses & Jobs, Homeownership & Housing, Health Care, and Education. The interactive map allows you to search data by state, county, city, and - new this year - Congressional District. Reports are also available for download which breakdown trends in specific measures by race and disability. 

A new report by Enterprise Community Partners and NeighborWorks America outlines the results of an innovative pilot program - the Health Outcomes Demonstration Project. The Project was aimed at addressing the gap in standard measurement practices to evaluate shared outcomes between community development and health care providers/payers. Read the full report to see how the Project equipped twenty affordable housing and community development organizations to evaluate health outcomes across a range of programs, including neighborhood improvement and community safety initiatives, youth education and services, housing improvement, service coordination for residents in crisis, as well as housing based-services that focus on nutrition, physical activity, financial literacy, social activities, mental health and employment. 

On June 25, the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University released its 2019 report entitled "The State of the Nation's Housing."

Although the economy has rebounded from the 2008 recession and household growth has returned to a normal rate, the number of newly constructed homes has not kept pace with the demand for housing for the past eight years. The lack of new housing is exacerbating the affordable housing prices by driving housing prices and rent higher and higher, leaving low-to-moderate income families in increasingly difficult housing situations. 

To read the full report, click here. 

Director of Lending - IFF

IFF improves the world by strengthening nonprofits and the communities they serve. As a mission-driven lender, real estate consultant, and developer, IFF helps communities thrive by creating opportunities for low-income communities and persons with disabilities. 

The Director of Lending provides leadership and management of all regional lending activities. The Director will provide input for and execute regional business development and sales activities derived from IFF's regional marketing strategy. S/he is responsible for sourcing, underwriting, and closing loans to target market borrowers and maintaining relationships with key borrowers. The Director assists the Managing Director of Lending to develop and maintain visibility and relationships with nonprofits and relevant government, association networks, and others to promote IFF.

Click here for the full job description.

Fair Housing Test Coordinator - Fair Housing Center of Central Indiana (FHCCI) 

The Fair Housing Center of Central Indiana (FHCCI) is a small civil rights nonprofit working to address housing based discrimination. We are currently seeking a full-time Fair Housing Test Coordinator to manage our testing program. The FHCCI testing program employs the use of “secret shoppers” to assist the FHCCI in determining if unlawful housing discrimination is occurring.

Responsibilities include recruitment, training, and coordination of the FHCCI’s part-time testers; investigation of discrimination in housing in violation of fair housing laws; assisting in client intake; assisting in outreach and public education; and preparation of reports.  

Click here for full job description.

Although Indianapolis has experienced dramatic growth in the past few years, many low-income families are being left behind or forgotten by traditional financial institutions, worsening an already difficult situation.

“It is so expensive to be poor,” said Kathleen Lara, Prosperity Indiana Policy Director. “The barriers are multitudes. If we’re trying to address equity and building wealth for low-income individuals, we’ve got to reduce some of the barriers that drain wealth.”

Read this fantastic piece from the Indianapolis Business Journal outlining the financial burdens facing the lowest income families in our community, featuring comments from Policy Director Kathleen Lara and A&O Network Manager Logan Charlesworth.