East Central Indiana Allocates READI 2.0 Funding to Spur Downtown Revitalization in Marion
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Family support initiatives
21 READI Projects
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Family support initiatives
Early Learning Center
Quality of Life
Accelerate Rural Indiana
Although Shelby County has childcare options, including homes, registered unlicensed ministries, and center-based programming, only 8 of the total 1,537 infants and toddlers are currently enrolled in a designated high-quality care environment (e.g., Early Head Start), leaving 98% of our community's youngest children without access to a designated high-quality early care and education environment. Often times, Shelby County residents most negatively impacted by the pandemic, low income residents whose work requires in-person attendance, are disproportionately impacted by this lack of quality childcare.Inadequate access to childcare is a major hindrance to the attraction of talent to the region and is often a barrier to workforce entry for local unemployed residents. The City of Shelbyville and Early Learning Shelby County (ELSC) are combining resources to acquire a stand-alone childcare facility to be strategically located in Shelbyville’s Tech Park. The City of Shelbyville and ELSC have committed $3 million and $2 million to the project, respectively. Construction of the project is slated to begin in the fall of 2022 and will be complete in the fall of 2023. ELSC, a non-profit organization, will own the center and Bright Horizons will serve as the provider after the acquisition of the completed building. READI dollars will be utilized to help acquire the facility through the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) procurement process.
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Wilma & Liston Buell Community Center
Quality of Life
Wabash River
Clay County, IN boasts a population of 26,410 residents with a poverty rate of 9.8%. Much of the County is rural. Since 2009, the REIN Coalition, comprised of Clay County residents, has worked diligently towards the creation of a community center to enhance four key areas within the County and West Central Indiana region: recreation, education, information & nutrition. The Coalition’s vision for a new and unique center to create a comprehensive space with amenities such as meeting space, a large food pantry, event space, and more, led to the beginning of construction on the Wilma & Liston Buell Community Center in August 2021, made possible by a donation from Dick Buell. Construction was planned to start in 2020 but was delayed due to the pandemic. The pandemic’s lasting effects have impacted the project’s progress through increased construction costs and constrained revenue streams. The $220,000 in READI funds will be utilized to pay for equipment, materials and supplies, earthwork, structure and framing, interior development and mechanical and electrical completion, with anticipated project completion in October 2022. Key performance indicators will look at the number of individuals and groups using the space for events and the number of events held at the center over the course of each year. In measuring the food pantry’s success, a key performance indicator will analyze the constancy of individuals utilizing this resource. The REIN Coalition will maintain ownership.
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Tolson Center for Community Excellence
Quality of Life
South Bend Elkhart
The Tolson Center for Community Excellence is a local community center located in the neighborhood of South Central Elkhart and is anticipated to serve 300-500 individuals through on-site programming. The programs delivered will focus on inclusive learning, cultural exchange, and recreation that have monthly outputs and outcomes focused on the number of youth programs (output-8/quarter), number of senior programs (output-6 weekly), satisfaction of the users (output-yearly). The expenditures for the READI grant will include fire protection, signage, flooring, roof, landscaping, irrigation, bleachers, and a soccer field. The start date was July 2022 and the anticipated end date is November 2024. The funding contributors include the City of Elkhart with $5M, Community Foundation of Elkhart County with $2M (split between operational support and capital investments), Lily Endowment with $2.2M, and a local philanthropist with $3.2M. Anticipated results will include reaching 80% of users who are satisfied with programming, feel a sense of belonging to the center, and gain new skills at the center. We anticipate the City of Elkhart to report positive feedback in support of Tolson's impact in the city.
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Supporting Our Families
Quality of Life
Greater Lafayette
Families in the Greater Lafayette Region are unable to access quality childcare. Without quality, reliable care, those same families are unable to enter or remain in the workforce. The purpose of the READI funds is to increase the capacity of the region's early care and education infrastructure by taking a collaborative approach to recruiting new programs and strengthening the landscape as a whole using the following methods (Scope of Work): Licensure Pathway Incentive (Start-up funds for childcare programs to assist program owners in starting). 2. Capacity-building mini-grants (Funding opportunities for projects are designed to increase capacity in new and existing programs). 3. Regional Shared Services Hub (Shared services to decrease overhead costs). 4. Project Manager (Hire a manager to implement and manage this project). Q3 '22-Build/strengthen county coalitions, Q4 '22 Survey to understand needs, Q1 '23 Hire Program Manager, Q1-Q2 '23 roll out application request for funding (providers), '23-'24 work with providers to implement their capacity building plan, Q4 '23 Launch Regional Shared Service Hub. The outcome of the program will include 40 new childcare spots, which is a 71% increase. ROI: Workforce preparation, health outcomes, reduced crime, economic health, lower program costs. Lost Dollars: Child Care Development Fund (CCDF) vouchers, On My Way Pre-K, State/Federal Funding, and Grants and other funds for “formal†childcare programs for the counties.
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Community Center
Quality of Life
Accelerate Rural Indiana
For years, public feedback in Rush County has pointed to the need for a community center to address the economic, population, and health challenges currently being experienced by the county. The Rush County Community Foundation (RCCF) has developed a community center concept that will support all ages and socioeconomic statuses in the community. RCCF’s community center concept will redevelop a large blighted and empty retail center in Rushville’s Opportunity Zone into a service hub for Rush County, bringing 5 nonprofit, social services, and government- related service providers together under one roof while also creating a recreation destination for the region through a fitness center and daycare facility. The Community Center directly supports ARPA’s Covid-19 pandemic relief aims by directly impacting Rushville’s low to moderate income households in the following ways: Public health - increases access to mental health, substance abuse, and physical fitness services; Negative economic impacts - assists households through food assistance programs and provides aid to numerous nonprofit organizations; Disproportionately impacted communities - increases access to early learning and childcare. READI funds will be utilized for the new construction of the facility. Construction documents for the project have already been completed and construction is scheduled to start in March 2023 and conclude in Summer of 2024.
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Brown County Early Education Outdoor Learning Space
Quality of Life
Indiana Uplands
This project centers around outdoor facility upgrades for the new Brown County Early Education Center. The interior of the EEC is state of the art; however the outdoor space is comprised of a playground area surrounded by a crumbling brick wall that is topped with rusted fencing which runs alongside a noisy state highway. The existing playground equipment is not safe for children below the age of 6 years. Also, there is no access to shade and existing concrete walkways are an unsafe distance from all playground equipment. The current space does not meet requirements for a Licensed Childcare Center and therefore, they must comprehensively address the playground by the fall of 2024 to meet licensing requirements or face forced-closure of the EEC. For this reason, the EEC has prioritized rehabilitation of the outdoor learning space before expanding the program to serve one-year-olds and newborns. The largest component of the project involves the installation of an outdoor classroom and natural playground that is a safe, educational, and naturally engaging with green space. That work will follow site demolition and remediation of the brick wall and fencing paid for through a grant from the Rotary Club of Brown County in coordination with Brown County Schools bond issuance. READI funding is requested for playground equipment and installation. The project is planned to start is November 2022 and be completed by August 2023.
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Building Resiliency in Indiana Uplands Youth
Quality of Life
Indiana Uplands
Build a pipeline of masters of social work student interns from Indiana University and University of Southern Indiana working for Youth First in Uplands schools and bring needed licensed mental health professionals to the region. Youth First is implementing responsive, outcomes-guided model of mental health prevention and early intervention for youth. Social workers delivery broad educational presentations, small group sessions, and establish a no-fee caseload for high-needs students. READI funds will go to fully funding four paid internships- 2 MSW students from Indiana University and 2 from University of Southern IN. READI funds will also fund salaries and expenses for 10.3 FTE social workers and clinical supervisors serving the Uplands. Over 8,000 youths will continue to have access to free mental health support. The project has community buy-in from several Uplands schools- Barr-Reeve, North Daviess, Washington Community, Washington Catholic, Holy Trinity, Mitchell, Loogootee, Orleans, Paoli, and Springs Valley. Youth First works to both provide students with mental health care while also attracting and retaining social work employees to the region. The project will start as soon as possible and be completed December 31, 2024.
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United Way of Southeast Indiana Early Education Access
Quality of Life
Southeast
The United Way of Southeast Indiana Early Education Access Project is an extension of the United Way of Greater Cincinnati-Southeast Indiana’s working Building Blocks Creative Curriculum program in Dearborn, Franklin, Ripley, Ohio and Switzerland counties. The Building Blocks program is increasing accessibility and affordability of pre-K and childcare centers by increasing the number of slots available, moving centers higher on the Indiana Paths to Quality scale, and allowing for more opportunities to use On My Way Pre-K vouchers. The vouchers and new opportunities for private pay will make the new childcare slots sustainable. SEI READI funds will be used by United Way of Southeast Indiana to contract with Building Blocks for two additional years of assistance to the region’s childcare centers to improve their Indiana Paths to Quality ratings.
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Henry County YMCA
Quality of Life
East Central
To better accommodate local employers who run three employee shifts, the YMCA of Henry County has been trialing an enhanced before and after-school program for K-5 students in the community. With earlier and later hours, the program provides extended care for area youth as well as transportation to and from local elementary schools. The pilot program started in 2021, has proven to be a successful model. To better support the program, the Henry County YMCA is working to expand its building facilities to accommodate the growing program. The ongoing project includes the renovation of the existing YMCA facility at 300 Wittenbraker Avenue, New Castle, IN. complete, the building and its spaces will provide enhanced multi-purpose rooms, classrooms, and amenities to serve the program’s participants. The project will begin in June 2023 and be complete by August 2024 ahead of the 2023-2024 school year. READI funds ($190,000) will be used to pay for design and engineering services including conceptual design, design development, construction documents, and bidding assistance. This work will be procured through a public bid process in accordance with local, state, and federal guidelines. Match funds will be provided by the Henry County Council and the New Castle Redevelopment Commission in addition to individual and corporate donations made through the YMCA’s capital campaign. Additional funds needed beyond those sources will be obtained through a bond program.
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East Central Indiana Talent Collaborative
Quality of Life
East Central
The need for high-quality Early Care and Learning (ECL) in East Central Indiana (ECI) was an issue before COVID but has worsened since. In response, the Regional Birth-5 Coalition was formed to identify opportunities for improvement The Coalition, comprised of regional ECL professionals, developed a Birth-5 Regional Training, Resource, and Advocacy Connector (TRAC) to combat regional issues. The TRAC will employ professionals to focus on leadership and advocacy, public-facing communication, and training for ECL professionals in ECI. An existing partnership with Ball State University will be leveraged to host this initiative. The Coalition will finalize job descriptions and strategic planning in Q2 2023, to hire TRAC staff in Q3 2023. The staff of the TRAC will be guided and supported by the Coalition, which will serve as an advisory board. A portion of the budget will be allotted to Regional Activity Support, allowing counties to secure resources that solve local ECL problems that fit within the scope of the TRAC’s goals. READI funds will be used to pay salaries and annual benefits in addition to training expenses for care providers. Funds will also support the purchase of computer and technology equipment, and facility rent. READI funds will be matched with funds from Ball State University, Forge Your Path (ECIRP), and in-kind volunteer commitments from the Early Learning Coalition members.
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Valley Professionals Community Health Center West Terre Haute Clinic
Quality of Life
Wabash River
Access to care is important to sustaining workforce as well as providing comprehensive and integrated health care for all members of a community. Valley Professionals Community Health Center (VPCHC) is a non-profit that offers a variety of services that are often not found or are limited in rural communities. These services include primary care, behavioral health care, dental care, and patient support services. The target population for VPCHC is the estimated 68,924 residents that live at or below 200% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL), are uninsured or underinsured, receive Medicaid or Medicare benefits, are medically underserved and/or have difficulty accessing appropriate primary care, behavioral health, and other patient services. VPCHC’s proposed READI project is the development of a new clinic located in West Terre Haute, Indiana. The proposed facility would be a total of 4,835 square feet that would provide the following amenities: 7 new exam rooms, 3 additional behavior health offices, new lab and vaccine area, pharmacy, nurse’s station, staff break room and waiting room. READI Funds were used towards the construction of the project, specifically concrete. VPCHC utilized American Rescue Plan – Health Center Construction and Capital Improvements (ARP-Capital, C8E). The project started on September 28, 2021 and was completed on June 14, 2022.
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Vincennes University Design & Innovation Studio
Quality of Life
Wabash River
The IN-MaC Design and Innovation Studio (DIS) provides a variety of opportunities for schools, educators, students, and industry to discover new ways to explore design thinking, problem-solving, technology, and creative skill sets. The studios provide hands-on experience with additive manufacturing, robotics, coding, engineering, and science learning modules. This investment in Knox County schools is an exciting addition to the robotics and automation programming offered at VU. In partnership with the Indiana Next Generation Manufacturing Competitiveness Center (IN-MaC) at Purdue University, VU will provide the opportunity for Knox County elementary schools to implement Design and Innovation Studios. These studios provide access to authentic, hands-on STEM education by offering schools, educators, and students various opportunities to discover new ways to explore design thinking, problem-solving, technology, and creative skill sets. The studios are coupled with 27 learning modules in partnership with STEM Education Works. VU will implement three studios in the elementary schools throughout the region and staff the studios with STEM Fellows/Instructors to implement the programming. READI funds will be used towards Training Materials in the studios. The project began in December 2021 with an estimated completion date of October 2022. The technology/equipment for the studios is a one-time expense and the schools will be responsible for any on-going expenses or additions made.
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