Great Indy Neighborhoods

GINI awards first 3 grants from IMAGINE’s $50,000 plan to build stronger neighborhoods

Next application deadline is July 25

INDIANAPOLIS – A photo workshop with youth designed to capture the spirit of the near North Side, a fall street festival on the East Side, and a plan to promote and ensure the safety of neighbors and reduce crime on the near North Side, are the first three IMAGINE projects to be funded by the Great Indy Neighborhoods Initiative (GINI).

GINI plans to distribute a total of $50,000 this year for similar, resident-led projects. GINI officials encouraged the six neighborhoods that had sought funding but not received it to revamp their applications for the next round and ask again for an Indianapolis Matching Awards for Great Indy Neighborhoods Engagement (IMAGINE).

“The Working Group that reviewed the applications and made funding recommendations was thrilled with each and every concept presented because it was clear that they were ideas born in the neighborhoods,” said Anne-Marie Predovich, Executive Director of the Indianapolis Neighborhood Resource Center, a GINI founding partner. “We can’t wait to see the projects get off the ground and to see what ideas come next.”

The first round grant recipients were Zion Hill Baptist Church in the Martindale-Brightwood neighborhood, Martindale-Brightwood Weed & Seed and Eastside Community Organization.

Details of the winning applications:

The Elements of Art Through Photography – Zion Hill Baptist Church, awarded $5,000 for the $10,000 project.
The 8-week project teaches photography to local youth who will use their newfound knowledge to develop exhibits that illustrate the community around them. The project is designed to teach, encourage community conversations, and change community perspectives on life in the neighborhood, break down barriers held through stereotypes, and increase connections around positively contextualized images.
Community Safety Links – Martindale Brightwood Weed & Seed, awarded $1,500 for the $10,000 project.
This project will complement existing block club and crime watch programs by planning and hosting Neighborhood Public Safety Forums. It was recommended that the forums be conducted throughout the year on a regularly scheduled occurrence.
September 15th Street Festival – Eastside Community Organization (ECO), awarded $3,700 for the total $12,840 project.
This project will celebrate the ECO neighborhood organization, creating a solid partnership with one of the neighborhood’s great assets (IPS School #88), and seeking to identify and connect with neighbors who are interested in volunteering. Another $1,200 in funding is expected to be generated by neighbors and business partners before or during the festival. The festival is expected to help promote further activities and to become an annual neighborhood event.

IMAGINE grants are designed to help implement improvement projects throughout the city. Grants will be awarded to neighborhood groups that best adhere to GINI’s 11 principles of healthy neighborhoods and which establish new and stronger relationships among grassroots organizations and businesses. IMAGINE grant recipients must offer a dollar-for-dollar match, but may count volunteer labor, donated materials, supplies, services or cash as part of that match. The maximum grant per neighborhood-based organization will be $5,000.

The next deadline for application is 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, July 25, 2007. Other 2007 deadlines are Wednesday, September 19 and Wednesday, November 21. Applications will be accepted from neighborhood-based organizations working in collaboration to increase involvement of residents and partners in communities across Indianapolis.

Interested neighborhood-based organizations can access the application, guidelines and more information online, by going to www.greatindyneighborhoods.org, www.inrc.org, emailing imaginehelp@inrc.org, or calling (317) 920-0330.