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Council to recognize Great Indy Neighborhoods Initiative

In Indianapolis, the City-County Council issues a special resolution to honor the accomplishments of Great Indy Neighborhoods Initiative (GINI), a comprehensive neighborhood revitalization program through a partnership of LISC, the Indianapolis Neighborhood Resource Center (INRC), and the City of Indianapolis.

1 Feb 2010 - Indianapolis City-County Council, LISC

INDIANAPOLIS (February 1, 2010) —The City-County Council will issue a special resolution at its meeting tonight to recognize the successes of Great Indy Neighborhoods Initiatives (GINI).

Launched in 2006, GINI was created to demonstrate the principles of comprehensive community development in six neighborhoods. GINI fostered collaboration among neighbors, community organizations, government leaders, and businesses and improved the quality of life of the neighborhoods by working holistically to promote and integrate civic, social, physical, and economic development.

The council resolution, which will be presented to Mayor Greg Ballard for signature, will recognize notable GINI accomplishments, including:

• Leveraging more than $100 million in community investment for the implementation of six "Quality of Life" plans;
• Hosting the “Fab for Less Design Home Tour: Building Blocks of Affordable Living” showcase in a Southeast neighborhood, thereby demonstrating the power of possibilities when neighbors dedicated over 1,500 hours on volunteer service to develop a sense of community;
• Giving an economic boost to the Northeast side by opening a $12 million, 86,000 square foot Kroger store;
• Providing neighborhood-based, one-stop access to support services and job search and retention skills at the Hawthorne Center for Working Families on the near Westside;
• Creating a new supplemental education tutoring program among Southwest side neighbors;
• Transforming an environmentally-friendly renovated home into four units for disabled residents on the Northwest side;
• Hosting on the Near Eastside of the Super Bowl Legacy Project, which will help implement the GINI Quality of Life Plan created by 600-plus residents

"GINI is a blueprint for fostering neighbor-created plans that combats key economic and revitalization challenges while ensuring a stronger sense of community," said Councilor Maggie Lewis, the resolution's sponsor. "Hopefully, this resolution will inspire more neighborhoods to confront their issues and build on their successes."

"It was exciting to help these neighborhoods seize the concepts of GINI—to organize people, decide on priorities, and act to improve their neighborhoods," said Bill Taft, LISC Executive Director. "Over the past three years Indianapolis has seen a renewed energy for community development by engaging scores of individuals to work in partnership to make our neighborhoods even better places to live, work, and play."

About GINI and LISC

The Great Indy Neighborhoods Initiatives (GINI) were created to focus investment and activity in neighborhoods that are ready to become better places to live, work, visit, and raise a family. GINI helps neighborhood residents, businesses, and community organizations get organized and involved in the neighborhood, decide on neighborhood priorities, and act on their plans to drive meaningful change. GINI is a partnership of Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), the Indianapolis Neighborhood Resource Center (INRC), and the City of Indianapolis. For more information on GINI go the website at www.greatindyneighborhoods.org.

LISC is a national organization with local priorities committed to helping neighbors build communities. We work with local nonprofit community development organizations to help transform distressed urban neighborhoods into healthy communities that are great places to live, work, do business, and raise families. Indianapolis LISC mobilizes corporate and philanthropic support on behalf of local neighborhoods, providing them with loans, grants and equity investments, policy support, and the technical and management assistance they need to realize their goals. For more info go to our website www.lisc.org/indianapolis.

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Article Type: Press Release