If you haven’t been to Indy’s Southeast side lately, you might be surprised by what you see: beautiful new homes, rehabilitated properties, rebuilt infrastructure, and commercial vitality. All the recent improvements make it a pretty exciting time to live in this part of town.
But you might not know that much of the progress being made is due to the Southeast Neighborhood Congress, whose members represent the needs and desires of the community—not the government or big business.
“The Southeast Neighborhood Congress represents 14 different neighborhoods that are in close proximity,” said Angie Calvert, Southeast Neighborhood Congress secretary. “We give any resident who wants to join the opportunity to help us identify mutual concerns. Then we make a plan and take action. We’ve had some great successes lately, so we always find time to celebrate those, as well.”
The Congress takes up many different issues; education, infrastructure, commercial viability, jobs, and youth activities are just some of the topics that pop up on the agenda. But there’s always one constant: a desire to make the Southeast side a better, more sustainable place to live and work.
The Southeast Neighborhood Congress is actually a continuation of the quality-of-life plan that LISC supported the neighborhood in developing and implementing over time. Essentially, it turns the plan into a living, breathing document, changing as the needs of the neighborhood change.
“When we first began our quality-of-life planning, there wasn’t a big focus on youth and education,” said Angie. “But as we started improving our neighborhoods, it was something we found we needed to concentrate on more. So we created a more detailed plan that included a bigger focus on those issues.”
“Another issue has been parking. Five years ago, parking in Fountain Square wasn’t a problem. Now it’s something we have to deal with, so that’s been a part of adapting our quality-of-life plan, too.”
Angie said that LISC not only helped lay the groundwork for the Southeast Neighborhood Congress, but that they continue to be an essential supportive partner. “Funding from LISC allowed us to hire a full-time person, Jim Mulholland, to really get this process going. On top of that, they’ve offered us funding and advice for our education task force, and have been a reliable partner that’s always available when we need them.”
Even though all of the improvements on the Southeast side have brought higher-income families to the neighborhood, Angie wants to make sure that everyone has a voice—and that nobody is pushed to the margins. “Our quality of life will continue to improve, and that counts for everyone that lives here,” said Angie. “Diversity is one of the things that makes this part of town great, so we’re going to make sure our Congress always represents that.”