Your Story. Our Community.

I feel as though when I’m swimming there’s a real oneness with the water. My instructor has inspired and motivated me through her teaching. It’s truly a ‘pool of hope.’ Recently while talking about swimming and my story, a woman approached me and asked if I had polio, and got quite emotional. I said ‘yes’ then she said that her mother had polio and had given up hope and used to love swimming. She asked if I’d be willing to meet with her, which I did.
–Judy, member at PrimeLife

I’m encouraged by the fact that we are a resource here, not just to help others in need, but also as a trusted resource for community and personal development. We’ve been doing this for 76 years starting in a tent on the west side of town, but we’ve moved several times in our history to be located where needs are.

The importance of funding from funders like CICF is showing that they’re investing in the community, that they trust agencies like us to carry out the work to improve the communities and take care of the residents through services and programs that will enrich lives in the neighborhoods we serve.
–Tysha, executive director at Edna Martin Christian Center

I started volunteering when I retired. I’m usually here twice a week for the morning shift. Usually I operate a tilt skillet and in that we make casseroles that will feed anywhere from 600-900 meals at a time. We volunteers might crank out up to 4,000 meals per day.

I was looking for a volunteer opportunity with an organization that was socially responsible. I was raised in the restaurant business, and I never wanted to do that as I saw my dad putting in a hundred hours a week. That being said, volunteering in a kitchen is a bit like coming home. Since 2004, I have amassed about 4,200 volunteer hours with Second Helpings.
–Richard, volunteer at Second Helpings

The best advice I’ve ever received is ‘don’t sweat the small stuff.’ In starting new initiatives and helping more people, it’s easy to get lost in the details. Overall, the vision for where we’re going is the most important thing. With this amazing partnership, we’re able to now get ahead of the huge wave of seniors that will be in our county before we know it. One of the biggest problems that seniors face is isolation. It’s so important for seniors to know that their community cares about them.

The library has played a big role in my personal life. I came from the Congo. Growing up we didn’t have libraries, my first encounter with a library was in high school, where we had a small library of old books. Even in college access to books was a rarity. The library is a place for healing, a true asset for the community. There’s no worse enemy for humans than ignorance. Building your knowledge wrecks barriers that keep us apart. The library is a place for connecting with people. When you come here you forget about all of your differences. You don’t see division in race, religion, gender, socio-economic. It is a place to share knowledge. I imagine that we are here in a sea of knowledge and we’re all here swimming in it!
–José, patron at The Indianapolis Public Library

I got hooked on theatre very young. In elementary school, I felt like it fit and it was fun…I had a good middle/high school teacher. Theatre was fun and she pushed us. For a lot of children—and even adults–the IRT has been their one theatre experience. That is a great thing to tout. [Among] our sisters/brother theatres across the country, we still have the largest student matinee program.
–Milicent, manager of outreach programs at Indiana Repertory Theatre