INDIANAPOLIS — 46201 is a zip code once labeled the “deadliest neighborhood” in Indianapolis. The Brookside neighborhood struggles with poverty, drugs and crime. One church-based group is trying to change that, and the city is providing grant funding to help.
Brookside Community Development Corporation, better known as Brookside CDC, on the city’s Near Eastside focuses on three aspects: play, re-entry and housing. The organization has a neighborhood focus.
It provides and partners with others to provides resources including transitional housing, employment opportunities and a food pantry. Combined Brookside CDC was awarded $163,000 in funding from both the Office of Public Health and Safety’s Community-based Violence Reduction Partnership and the City’s Violence Crime Reduction Grant Program.
On Wednesday, Mayor Joe Hogsett and OPHS director visited the organization and held a roundtable with organization leaders and clients.
“The more that we see people buy into this relational network and family, the more impact we’re going to have and the more people we’re going to see transform in our community,” Brookside CDC CEO David Cederquist said.
This is all a part of the Hogsett Administration’s multi-year $150 million plan to curb violence in the city. Recipient organizations like Brookside CDC partner with the OPHS “to use data-based, research-driven methods to identify those most at-risk of becoming a victim or perpetrator of violence and intervene.”
Last year the organization helped 1,500 clients.
Cederquist said the first three months is a pivotal time when his staff works to break barriers with clients. Upwards of $1000 is spent per person during that time on things like bedding, transportation and cell phones. A chunk of the $163,000 total funding will go towards those resources.
The rest of the violent crime reduction funding is aimed at case management costs, mental health and expanding the Isaiah House program from 16 to 28 beds.
RELATED | New initiative, Uprise Indy, employs Brookside residents
