Increase the health of your home through improving the neighborhood in which you live.  If you are looking for opportunities to positively impact your neighborhood and community, you may want to engage in Neighbor Power.  The first link below is to an upcoming annual event for this great organization.

https://www.nuvo.net/calendar/community/neighbor-power-indy/event_1a09ecc2-24c3-11e9-8483-5cb9017bdf7c.html

One of the success stories is below:

Congratulations to the Old Southside Neighborhood for being chosen as Indianapolis Mayor Hogsett’s second Lift Indy neighborhood! 

Once a prosperous neighborhood on the Southside of downtown, the Old Southside neighborhood changed dramatically when I-70 was constructed. Interstate construction took several of the neighborhood businesses, and many families left the area.  The community had applied for various grants and Great Places 2020 with no success, but was as motivated as ever to work with partners to spur investment and redevelopment.

INRC invited the Old Southside Neighborhood Association (OSNA) to participate in the Indianapolis Community Building Institute (ICBI) pilot program. ICBI is a leadership training program, based on the philosophy of Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD), where community building skills are transferred, while providing space where neighbors can connect, realize and act on their passions for change. Six Old Southside neighbors made the commitment to attend the six-month program, with two other neighborhoods.

As part of this training, INRC provided project management skills that helped the Old Southside residents plan, implement, and evaluate a neighborhood project. Using asset mapping tools gained from the ICBI training, the group looked at the large number of vacant and abandoned homes in their area. As a way to address the vacant-property challenge, they decided to host a property showcase, highlighting the vacant properties as opportunities for investment.

OSNA invited realtors, investors, developers and individuals to visit the neighborhood on June 25, 2016 for a property showcase. Big red bows were placed on every vacant property, so attendees could easily identify them. A reception was held at Sacred Heart Parish Hall, where local organizations and businesses had information booths; OSNA and the Stadium Village Business Association shared their land use plan with attendees. Attendees received a map to tour the neighborhood on their own. In addition, realtors distributed information about current listings in the neighborhood. 130 individuals attended the property showcase; those individuals represented the developers, investors, real estate agents, and potential homeowners targeted by OSNA.

As a direct result of this showcase, at least 10 derelict houses have been demolished, and an equal amount sold. The number of vacant housing has decreased from 50 to less than 23, and the number of boarded houses decreased by ten. In addition, “Two Chicks and a Hammer”, from the HGTV show “Good Bones” have purchased 11 houses in the Old Southside neighborhood and will be featured heavily in their newest season. Over the last two years, since the showcase, nearly half of the 120 properties showcased have been purchased or demolished.

OSNA’s current focus is on strengthening partnerships with area landlords. Using skills learned in ICBI trainings, the neighborhood identified the importance of marketing the neighborhood to investors, as well as the importance of establishing partnerships with people who had already invested in the neighborhood. Because 60% of the houses in the area are rentals, OSNA decided to focus its efforts on developing a relationship with property owners. Utilizing the City’s Landlord Registry to find information contact information, OSNA hosted a landlord forum. At the forum they discussed the importance of rental property in the neighborhood, as well as the support that OSNA provides to landlords to help them retain better renters. The property owners appreciated the neighborhood reaching out to them. To continue communication, OSNA created a private Facebook page for the landlords and the OSNA to share information and be better connected to the neighborhood.

At the 2017 Neighbor Power Indy event convened by INRC, members of OSNA presented a workshop on their Property Showcase and Landlord Forum projects. Because of their hard work, OSNA won the 2017 Neighbor Power Indy Connecting Community Award.

Neighborhood residents Judith Essex and Lisa Hale commented, “We need to work together. We are all out here wanting the same thing for our community; pretty, safe, clean neighborhoods; a place to raise our children and a place to retire.”