 Since its creation in 2004, CICF’s goal for Family Success was—and is—to help families overcome obstacles and break the cycle of poverty. CICF and its affiliates—The Indianapolis Foundation and Legacy Fund—along with other CICF partners and donors created Family Success to help communities combat the increasing socio-economic gap in assets and income, low educational attainment rates, dangerous behaviors and poor behavioral choices, and lack of healthcare that destabilizes families.
Becoming a local partner: Expanding the focus
In 2008, CICF became the local partner for the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Making Connections initiative. Annie E. Casey is national foundation which works to serve vulnerable children and families and to build supportive communities. Making Connections focuses on tough neighborhoods and works with resident leaders so that:
- Families have increased earnings and assets
- Children are healthy and prepared to succeed in school
Since 2000, Making Connections has been working in two Indianapolis neighborhoods – Martindale-Brightwood and Southeast. The goals of Making Connections dovetailed perfectly with the interests of CICF and presented an opportunity to blend these two initiatives into a larger, more seamless emphasis on quality community-based services.
A gateway to the community: Investing in Community Centers to provide services
The Indianapolis Foundation supports a network of neighborhood-based community centers that act as gateways for the Family Success initiative:
- Hawthorne Community Center (near Westside of Indianapolis)
- John H. Boner Community Center (near eastside of Indianapolis)
- Mary Rigg (Westside)
- Southeast Community Services
Services funded at the community centers:
- Access to income supports
- Workforce development including education or vocational training
- Financial literacy training
- Rental and homeownership assistance
- Resources that reduce barriers in a family’s life
Creating better access to essential economic support services: Center for Working Families (CWF)
The Center for Working Families (CWF) is a best practice model to help low-income families reach financial stability and move up the economic ladder. Pioneered by The Annie E. Casey Foundation in Baltimore, Centers for Working Families offers an innovative framework that helps individuals and families:
- Gain and maintain employment and increase earnings potential
- Increase income by helping access public benefits and earned income tax credits
- Increase financial literacy so individuals have the knowledge and skills to help them increase assets over the long-term.
The CWF model is a comprehensive approach providing a full range of services in one location to help families build self-sufficiency and stabilize their finances. There are currently four neighborhood-based CWFs working to grow the assets of low-income working families in Indianapolis: Southeast Community Services, John H. Boner Community Center, Hawthorne Community Center, and Mary Rigg Community Center. The Indianapolis Foundation recently made a significant investment in the CWF network and provided direct financial support to each neighborhood site to help fund a 3-year pilot project resulting in numerous success stories like the one recounted below.
Learn more about the Family Success initiative
Contact CICF Program Officer Angela Carr Klitzsch at 317.634.2423, ext. 146 or angelak@cicf.org.
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Larry Baker was 22 when he joined the Family Success Initiative in May 2006. He was a young father hoping to build a better life for his family – and trying to buy a house. Baker learned about the initiative while he was at the Westside Community Development Center (WCDC) looking for help getting a home loan and liked the idea of creating a plan that would enable his family to do more than just get by. He was making long-term plans, getting a home loan and securing his family’s future – heady stuff for most 22-year-olds. But not for Larry Baker.
