United Way of Central Indiana awards $30,000 to Martindale Brightwood Community Development Corporation at pitch contest
INDIANAPOLIS – On Tuesday night, United Way of Central Indiana awarded $30,000 to Martindale Brightwood Community Development Corporation at Propel, a pitch contest for human services organizations.
Martindale Brightwood Community Development Corporation will use the funding to help launch a program that will train and mentor local residents interested in improving and investing in the neighborhood by becoming real estate developers. JumpStart Martindale Brightwood is modeled after a similar program in Philadelphia’s Germantown neighborhood. One of the goals is to create affordable housing options so that families can stay in the neighborhood and build wealth through homeownership.
During the event, five organizations pitched their ideas on how to reduce barriers for those from under-resourced communities and asset-limited backgrounds. About 100 people attended Propel, held at The AMP at 16 Tech in Indianapolis.
Audience members voted for a people’s choice winner, awarding $5,000 to South Central Community Action Program and its Growing Opportunities program, which addresses food insecurity and job training. Funding will help them expand gardening classes and mobile food stands into Morgan County, increasing access to healthy, locally-grown food. The people’s choice award was sponsored by Audiochuck. The organization also received an additional $2,500 for being a finalist.
Awards given Tuesday came from United Way’s Social Innovation Fund.
In April, nonprofits were invited to submit short videos highlighting their organization and idea. A panel of community leaders selected five finalists.
The three other organizations that pitched their ideas live Tuesday received $2,500:
You Yes You! Project helps build relationships between incarcerated fathers and their children. The organization is partnering with Scholars Inc. to expand programming in prisons, and funding will support that work. The programming includes automotive, construction and digital media workshops for dads and children.
Gennesaret Free Clinics provides healthcare to those in need, including the uninsured, underinsured and people experiencing homelessness. Funding will support their mobile health clinic.
Gleaners Food Bank of Indiana will use the funding for its new Gleaners2Go program, which allows people to order food online and pick it up at a time convenient for them.
Judging the competition were:
Jamey Applegate, Employ Indy
Ashley Flowers, Audiochuck
Andre Franklin, Crowe (United Way board member)
Jimmie McMillian, Penske Entertainment Corporation (United Way board member)
Titi Obasanya, Elevate Ventures