Destiny Steps, Inc. aims to strengthen the foundation of families within our community and guide them toward self-sufficiency by providing wrap-around services that include education, job training, housing assistance, and accompanying social support to meet their specific needs.
Funds were utilized for staff time to market and recruit more participants of color, as well as for instructor preparation to ensure all curriculum is reviewed with an eye for equity in their workforce development and training programs, including Child Development, Culinary Arts, Construction, and CDL.
Tap here to learn more about Destiny Steps
Belmont Beach is a grassroots Haughville community initiative to reclaim the story of a segregated swimming hole along the White River in Indianapolis and celebrate the resilience of the people and the river that endured in the face of endless harms. They provide a tangible benefit to community residents to increase health outcomes through food access, wellness, and education.
Funds were used toward construction and maintenance of a community herb garden where residents have access to in-season spices and herbs free of charge. They also hosted free community events around gardening, composting, and sustainability.
Tap here to learn more about Friends of Belmont Beach
Exploradoor Inc. is dedicated to equitable access for Indiana teens – especially those from marginalized communities – to career, job, and skill experiences that prepare them for life. Their work is premised on experience and research that teens exposed early and often to ideas, roles, and mentors in areas of interest are more likely to do better in school and go on to pursue more meaningful careers or pathways. Exploradoor operates a one-stop aggregator of career and skill programs for Indiana teens, which features approximately 100 programs that help middle and high school students learn about and apply to career and job exploration and training programs.
As a new organization, Silver Linings funds were used for Exploradoor’s operational needs to aid in its “start-up” phase.
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Gennesaret Free Clinics is a dedicated team of healthcare professionals, staff, and volunteers who provides quality, accessible, and compassionate patient-centered healthcare for persons experiencing homelessness or lacking established healthcare. GFC’s main services include 8 medical clinic sites; a mobile medical clinic; a dental clinic; three health recovery homes, two for men and one for women experiencing homelessness after hospitalization; and women’s health services program, including all aspects of women’s healthcare with a special focus on prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of breast and cervical cancer.
Silver Linings Funds provided general operating support to GFC’s Mobile Clinic, including integrating enhanced women’s healthcare and family planning services aboard the mobile medical clinic, covering supply costs for the Mobile Clinic, including purchasing the prescriptions that are given to patients at no cost, and expanding the number of operating days to ensure outreach to their priority zip codes.
Tap here to learn more about Gennesaret Free Clinics
Pathway’s Mission is to provide affordable housing, transportation services, training, and resources that promote resident self-sufficiency while reducing the “digital divide” and welfare dependency and crime in Indianapolis with a focus on the Far Eastside. The Driven to Success Program Services is a micro transit system made of compact paratransit buses to provide on-demand rides for residents in underserved and disadvantaged neighborhoods.
Silver Linings funds were utilized for diesel fuel to transport riders to on-demand-service location areas such as the grocery store, food pantries, medical facilities, employment sites, and education centers/schools. The target population is low income BIPOC individuals and families who are in need of transportation.
Tap here to learn more about Pathway Resource Center’s Driven 2 Success
Pretty Passionate Hands focuses on providing support, mentorship, and guidance to teen mothers’ and fathers’ families. Through programs, they provide tools and resources to remove barriers that prevent youth and families within the community from attaining their personal life goals. PPH believes in a community where families are fully supported. They provide services, awareness, support, and guidance to improve the lives of teen families within our communities, each family, one child at a time. And, they believe in a community where each person has access to childcare and essential life skills to lead the way to brighter futures.
Silver Lining Funds were used to assist with space rental for mentorship programs for teen mothers and fathers, in which financial awareness is taught through educational workshops, village support, and mentorship for youth and families.
Tap here to learn more about Pretty Passionate Hands
Founded in 2000, Teachers' Treasures obtains and distributes school supplies free to teachers of students in need. Their vision is for teachers to have easy access to school supplies for their students living in poverty. While they’ve historically had an ongoing collection of books in a variety of languages in their warehouse, increasingly high demand from teachers has meant these books do not last long. They identified a need for children’s books that reflect the languages and backgrounds of Indianapolis’s students. The Global Language Library will intentionally build their stock of non-English books.
Silver Linings funds were used for a Global Language Library initiative, with a goal of supplying over 300 schools and programs in Marion County with books in Spanish, Hmong, Mandarin, Arabic, Vietnamese, French, Ukrainian, and other languages spoken by immigrants and refugees.
Tap here to learn more about Teachers Treasures
PitchFeast is an entrepreneur support organization that focuses on providing BIPOC business owners with the start-up resources they need to compete equitably in the business world. Their mission is to cultivate the creative potential in people to generate economic and social value in the urban core.
Silver Linings funds were used to cover the fee for contracting two business mentors for a Founders Peer Group, an intimate peer group where entrepreneurs support each other in meeting their business goals. The Founders Peer Group is a 6-month program where under-resourced entrepreneurs are invited to work with past PitchFeast winners.. The program’s purpose is to create an inclusive place where these business owners can find support, build a supportive network, and most importantly, have a safe space where they can discuss their business wins and losses.
Tap here to learn more about Pitchfeast
Project Transformation’s mission is to transform communities by engaging children, college students, and churches in purposeful relationships. Their four pillars are 1. Develop Literacy; 2. Cultivate Leadership; 3. Celebrate Diversity; and 4. Serve Community.
Silver Linings funds were used for in-person, literacy-based summer programming for elementary-aged children, specifically for books with characters who are people of color, arts and crafts supplies, paper, pencils, pens and certificates of completion. The program took a holistic approach integrating academic progression in literacy, social and emotional learning, enrichment programming, arts and crafts, recreation, healthy habits, and more.
Tap here to learn more about Project Transformation Indiana
Camptown is an organization whose mission is to challenge, mentor, and teach youth about life through outdoor adventure and nature programs that help build confidence, character, and hope.
The Silver Linings Fund helped to expand Wilderness Adventure Academy, which is offered as an integral part of a school curriculum, adapted to Indiana Academic standards. Funds went toward staffing costs; transportation; equipment; consumable supplies, and fees. The Academy is a progressively intense adventure designed for 4th-12th graders. Students take part in outdoor experiences during school with appropriate challenges augmenting their curriculum. Post-pandemic, teachers are struggling with students’ under-developed social and emotional skills and academic delays. Camptown incorporates social-emotional learning into Wilderness Adventure Academy focusing on 5 skill subsets: self-awareness, self-management, responsible decision making, relationship skills, and social awareness.
Tap here to learn more about Camptown
The HUB provides academic assistance, community involvement opportunities, and enriching activities in a fun, safe, respectful environment for inner city youth of Indianapolis. The Hub works with community councils to help fix and get a better understanding about the disparities in our community, and how we fix them as well. The HUB is the center of all activities offered to youth of Indianapolis ages 15 and up, including youth with special needs. Activities center around incorporating learning about financial empowerment, coding, mentoring, open gym, mental health, college readiness, social justice awareness, and peace learning, along with field trips to cultural organizations, swimming, and more. Silver Linings funding went toward operational costs, including food, activities, and programming support.
Tap here to learn more about George Washington Hub Club
A Seat At The Table helps minority women overcome barriers that limit access to leadership roles within corporations, government entities, entrepreneurship, and the community. They create change in communities and businesses by addressing pertinent issues that aid in removing barriers blocking growth and the intentional oppression of people of color. They create safe spaces for women of color to discuss difficult topics and to gain tools to assist with upward mobility within their area of interest.
Silver Linings funds were used for programming-related venue rental and supplies for an in-person program for women, called “The Conversation.” The program’s purpose was to create a safe environment to have difficult conversations regarding the barriers and limitations that women of color face, and how white women can be true advocates for them. The hope was to begin the process of bridging the gap and providing support and clarity for two different demographics, with a strategic focus on eliminating systemic racism. This event was in partnership with Create, Connect, Collab and other community organizations.
Tap here to learn more about A Seat at the Table
The Indiana Undocumented Youth Alliance seeks to empower all undocumented communities across the state of Indiana to achieve higher levels of knowledge, influence public policy, and improve their quality of life. They aim to provide services that address food access and affordability through programming to ensure the community is fed and energized to participate.
Silver Linings funds were used to supplement support for the IUYA Social Justice Mentorship program members to cover educational resources needed for both mentors and mentees, as well as covering food costs during workshops and other scheduled events. The program was designed to support education for children and adults alike with two workshops per month that focused on social justice education that expanded beyond what our youth is taught in their schools. Throughout, the mentees were supported by their mentors, and taught skills in professional development that focused on training to assist connecting this marginalized population to livable wages and other income opportunities.
Tap here to learn more about Indiana Undocumented Youth Alliance
El Sistema envisions a world where every child in central Indiana has access to music through intensive ensemble training and performance to promote positive youth development and thriving communities. Their goal is to provide ensemble music education to youth in central Indiana who lack access to music education and to support their development of the social and emotional skills and habits of mind they need to lead successful lives. They embrace the core values of equity, empowerment, excellence, joy, and community; and provide free ensemble music education in the Indianapolis area, based on the international El Sistema model which has the mission of "effecting social change through music for children with the fewest resources and the greatest need." The program stresses community, engagement, and empowerment for young people, with ensemble music instruction as the means rather than the end. They believe that music can be a vehicle to transform the lives of children and empower them to reach their full potential.
Silver Linings funding supported instructor stipends for the Spring 2023 program at George Washington Carver Montessori School 87, as well as stipends for the fall of 2023 for new programming at Meredith Nicholson School 96. Programs include free ukulele instruction after school for elementary school students, and El Sistema provides each of them with ukuleles to keep.
Tap here to learn more about El Sistema
For 30 years, The Parks Alliance has worked to develop and maintain Indy’s parks, trails, greenways, and public spaces. By connecting resources to needs, they are committed to increasing access and availability of park spaces and programs for Indy families, youth, seniors, and visitors. Indy Urban Acres, an initiative of the Parks Alliance of Indianapolis, is a collection of farms that utilizes organic farming practices. Farmers work daily to empower and educate people by providing equitable access to free, high-quality produce. They are guided by the core belief that all people deserve access to healthy food, and their mission is to educate and empower people experiencing food insecurity by providing access to free produce.
Silver Linings funds were utilized for the 2023 Veggie Bag program, wherein a share of produce is delivered, FREE, to 225 households that experience food insecurity. Funds supported supplies and farm staff’s time during the June-October harvest and delivery window for the Veggie Bags.
Tap here to learn more about Indy Urban Acres, an initiative of the Parks Alliance of Indianapolis
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