INDIANAPOLIS — Residents on the city's northwest side are feeling the loss of a neighborhood center that not only served families, but teens and young adults. A sign on the Fay Biccard Glick Neighborhood Center says it's closed until further notice. The buses remain parked at the Fay Biccard Glick Neighborhood Center. Some who were involved in the youth leadership program are raising questions about the center's abrupt, temporary closure.
The center closed earlier this month, citing financial challenges. That closure left those in the Future Leaders in Progress program — known as FLIP — unsure of where their future with the center stands.
"We never really knew what exactly would happen, but I think we all had a feeling, especially when it got closer to like the actual closure. But as for the actual community, I felt that was really abrupt,” Jaida Dagen, a FLIP participant, said.
Jaida Dagen was in the FLIP program. She says it helped her decide where to go to college and what to study. The 21-year-old says she spent a lot of time at the center when she was a kid.
"I knew that one day I would want to either want to come back there, which is what I did, or help anywhere in my community,” Dagen said.
FLIP participants were told via e-mail that July 29 was their last day. They say they were originally told they'd be able to stay until they went back to school, but they showed emails where the center eventually said they "cannot afford to pay for the program at this time."
"I feel like everything that we were doing in the FLIP program was helping us in some way. Like, even if you didn't want to go to college, we went to the job fairs where people could look at jobs where you would only need a GED,” Caressa Addison, a FLIP participant, said.
As of now, there is no set date on when or if the FLIP program will be accepting new teens and young adults. Participants say they wish the board had done more to keep their program open.
"You think the board is to blame for all of this?” asked WRTV’s Meredith Hackler.
"All personal things aside, they even admitted to us in a meeting they were like, 'We don't know what we are doing, we don't know about this program.' I asked them if they knew about the FLIP program. They don't know anything about the FLIP. They don't know anything about the way the Fay operates,” Addison said.
We reached out to board members to get more answers about the future of the center.
