Flanner House Earns Trust and Opens Doors

After a troubling time living in nearly 40 different foster homes, Chris arrived at Flanner House just as he was turning 18. Due to his rough upbringing, Chris lacked confidence within himself and was naturally distrusting of everyone and everything Flanner House had to offer.

After a few weeks of adjustment, Chris was enrolled in a 15-week program at Flanner House which focused on financial literacy, social skills, resume building, and other life skills. He set the goal of earning his High School Equivalency diploma.

As a requirement for these programs, Chris met with Bwana at Flanner House’s Morningstar Afrocentric Wellness Center and began meaningful conversations. As the meetings progressed, he developed a strong relationship with Bwana, Candias Scott-Moore, and Flanner House leadership. These relationships started to build his confidence and encouraged him to excel within the programs.

After a long Friday of classes and study sessions to prepare for his final assessments for the HSE program, he traveled back to his foster home to find all his belongings thrown out with no place to go. Flanner House had been working on a project to turn one of their properties into a transitional home, but realized Chris’ urgent situation and began to expedite the process. After working through the weekend, Flanner House leaders were able to open the transitional home the following Monday and provided Chris his own room.

This display of generosity by Flanner House allowed Chris to see that he is cared for and loved and ultimately led to him giving his full trust and commitment to the Flanner House staff and programs.

Within four weeks, Chris passed all five of his required exams and graduated with honors. He landed a job working for Groundworks Indy and started the application process of going to college. Chris is enrolled in Ivy Tech’s Indiana Plan program and will be starting classes in April to become a certified electrician.

Chris is a testament to all youth not only in Indianapolis, but around the world. Limits that you place on yourself will only limit your potential, but self-confidence will allow you to reach heights that before never seemed tangible.

Flanner House is one of seven neighborhood-based agencies that belong to the Indianapolis Bridges to Career Opportunities (Bridges) Network. Building on LISC’s digital skilling, coaching and navigation work within our Financial Opportunity Center (FOC) model, Bridges is a LISC program that provides a pathway to financial stability for individuals who are facing the highest systemic obstacles to opportunity in our economy. Established in 2016, the Indianapolis Bridges Network helps hundreds of families each year achieve financial success by taking the reins of their economic and professional lives.