As of 2014, over 100 individuals and families have become Angel Investors and invested in CICF-led initiatives and projects that make Marion and Hamilton Counties better places to call home. As 2014 comes to a close, we hope that you’ll take time to celebrate the positive and lasting impact CICF’s Angel Investors have had this year by reflecting on the Top 9 Angel Investment Updates From 2014.
1. Reconnecting to Our Waterways
The Indianapolis Department of Metropolitan Development recently awarded $1 million of its 2015 Community Development Block Grant funding to Reconnecting Our Waterways (ROW), an organization founded by CICF and Eli Lilly and Company Foundation. ROW plans to announce future creative placemaking projects in 2015 that will utilize this new funding.
Placemaking projects in 2014 were chosen for Pleasant Run and Fall Creek, and included shade shelters, a railing at Prospect Falls, new public art sculptures, and graduated stone seating for performances and children’s play. These projects transpired as a direct result of a three-year, $1.35 million grant to CICF from the national Kresge Foundation, and an additional three-year, $100,000 grant from The Indianapolis Foundation, a CICF affiliate.
2. Indiana Pacers Bikeshare
CICF had planned to introduce a community bicycle sharing program on the Indianapolis Cultural Trail: A Legacy of Gene and Marilyn Glick ever since the trail was approved by the City of Indianapolis. CICF raised over $1 million of private funding for the project, and on April 22, 2014, the Indiana Pacers Bikeshare program was unveiled. As of October, the Indianapolis Cultural Trail reported that 74,162 total bike rides lasting an average of 15 minutes had taken place. Additionally, 1,404 annual memberships and 21,844 24-hour passes have been purchased. All membership and daily usage fees help maintain the bicycles and ensure an even rotation of bikes among stations. Currently, 25 stations host 250 bicycles.
3. City-County Building Plaza Design Competition
CICF sponsored the City-County Building Plaza Design Competition in which teams competed to have their design constructed at the 1.94 acre space on the City-County Building property. Jury members, including Brian Payne, president and CEO of CICF, reviewed proposals from 23 teams based on six criteria: uses and programming, sociability, placemaking, comfort, sustainability, and cost feasibility. Design Collective, CMID, INC., and Hause Surveying & Engineering won the competition with their proposal to divide the space into three areas: civic, active and garden. The most prominent feature of the new design includes an ice skating rink.
4. Center For Working Families
United Way of Central Indiana was announced as the new strategic leader of Center For Working Families (CWF) in September 2014 in order to grow the program and impact more Central Indiana families. CICF incubated the CWF model for eight years with the Annie E. Casey Foundation prior to this announcement.
In the first three quarters of 2014, CWF sites served 2,506 families. In that time, 405 people found new employment, 499 people increased their net income by an average of $926, and 418 people increased their net worth by $7,413 (on average). In many cases, individuals bundled CWF services to double the likelihood of achieving a major economic outcome. Based on these successes, CWF expects to meet and exceed its 2014 goals.
To emphasize its continued support for the model’s growth, CICF and The Glick Fund, a fund of CICF, awarded a $75,000 grant to support the launch of the eighth CWF site at Community Alliance for the Far Eastside, Inc.
5. Grameen America Indianapolis
Grameen America Indianapolis helps low-income borrowers invest in their small business ideas by supplementing a microloan with financial training and support. Since its launch in 2011, Grameen America Indianapolis has grown to serve 1,803 members and increased outreach by 30 percent from second quarter to third quarter in 2014. At the close of the third quarter, the organization reported distributing a total of $4.5 million.
The most common small business categories receiving disbursement from Grameen America Indianapolis include beauty and cosmetics, clothing and accessories, and food and beverage. The organization continues to work towards sustainability and is partially funded by Women’s Fund of Central Indiana, a CICF affiliate, as well as The Glick Fund and Efroymson Family Fund, both funds of CICF. CICF helped raise $6 million to bring Grameen America to Indianapolis.
6. Community Crime Prevention
The Indianapolis Foundation was invited by the City of Indianapolis to administer the City’s Community Crime Prevention Grants Program in 2013. This year’s grants included two phases; Phase I grants were expedited to organizations specifically supporting Marion County youth. Phase II grants were made to organizations committed to crime prevention and intervention and/or community safety. The Indianapolis Foundation awarded $1.86 million in grants to 67 local not-for-profits on behalf of the City of Indianapolis. Grant amounts varied from $5,000 to $100,000.
7. Increasing College-Going Rates
Data shows that only 15 percent of the lowest income students complete postsecondary education six years after high school graduation, but the Metropolitan School District of Decatur Township is hoping to change that number. By 2016, Decatur Township projects its college-going rate to increase to over 60 percent thanks to a focused college readiness pilot program supported by CICF.
This year, Decatur Township school district added a Director of College and Career Readiness to focus on postsecondary education and to supplement the district’s college readiness efforts. The director tracks postsecondary data, measures student outcomes, and creates opportunities for college exposure and credit. A similar pilot program is being implemented at the Metropolitan School District of Wayne Township.
Last year Decatur Township increased its percentage of seniors filing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) by 10 percent as part of a countywide FAFSA Completion Challenge initiated by CICF. The competition’s success was featured on the U.S. Department of Education blog this past September.
8. Economic Impact of Advanced Degrees
Research from 2009 indicated that a 1 percent increase in college attainment would result in a $1.3 billion economic impact for Central Indiana. With that in mind, CICF continues to support strategic opportunities through its College Readiness and Success Initiative to increase postsecondary enrollment, as well as graduate retention. A recent study from Cleveland State, Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs, showed Indianapolis ranks 3rd in the percentage growth of workers with an advanced degree, up 5.5 percent since 2005.
The city has also succeeded in retaining those graduates as the five-year, $400 million downtown building boom indicates. Downtown Indianapolis added 1,466 new residential units in 2014 – further evidence that more educated residents are choosing to invest in Indianapolis and call this city home.
9. Youth Assistance Program
Legacy Fund has played an instrumental role in providing support to Hamilton County Youth Assistance Program (YAP) and has helped launch the program in six county high schools. This year, two communities, Westfield and Noblesville, became self-sustaining from Legacy Fund financial support. This milestone allows Legacy Fund to continue development of the program in other Hamilton County communities. Recently, YAP announced an expansion to Hamilton Heights.
Explore the impact in images:
For more information about these projects, please contact Rob MacPherson at 317-631-6542.
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