Category: Education
Why We Love Solar
You may have noticed that we’re trying to incorporate solar into our new building projects. We’re also going to be putting solar on Neighbors Place, which is great not only because it will offset our energy costs and make for a cleaner NWI environment, but it reminds everyone who walks, rolls, or drives by that this future of renewable energy can happen now. We asked our friend and volunteer, Gilles Charriere, to share more about the benefits and challenges of solar in Indiana. Thanks, Gilles, for all your advocacy, education, support, and solar installation skills!
Housing for All
The house on Indiana Ave. was over 100 years old and needed much work. We made an agreement with the owner to demolish it and build a duplex at the site. The owner would occupy one unit and the additional unit would be below-market rental for the community.
Moving and Shaking Since 1969
We have been busy! And we like busy. It means we’re doing what we set out to do – build community. Since our 2021 newsletter, we’ve accomplished a lot with your volunteer and financial support.
Different Worlds: Porter County and Valparaiso Distribute ARPA Funds
Anyone who watched the spectacles surrounding the determination of how to spend the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) money in both Porter County and the City of Valparaiso was treated to an education on the different workings of two governments tackling the same problem. Without making a judgment as to the exact degree of exclusiveness or inclusiveness of the processes used by the aforementioned governments, one could at least array the two government’s approaches on a scale from most inclusive to least inclusive. Certainly both systems started out at the same place, but because of a variety of circumstances, the County made some abrupt adjustments and moved to a much more systematic, transparent, and inclusive process. While the City of Valparaiso was encouraged to adopt a more inclusive approach, they did not move that far up the inclusiveness scale relative to the County.
How to Get and Keep Volunteers
[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”-54px|auto||auto||” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.17.4″ text_text_color=”#4c4c4c” text_font_size=”17px” background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” custom_margin=”28px|||||” custom_padding=”||15px|||” hover_enabled=”0″ locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″] Frankly, this is the easiest and most rewarding part of the job. Because we are an affluent culture with roots in Christian notions of responsibility, many people have the discretionary…
How Project Neighbors Does It
Project Neighbors builds “affordable housing,” a term I dislike because its definition changes with the person using the term. I use it to mean housing made available for rent or purchase at about 60% of existing market rates. It still may not be affordable to some families, but then other efforts are put into play. This blog is about HOW we produce the housing.
Where Have All the Students Gone?
The world has become increasingly more and more complex – even on matters as mundane as student transfers — while at the same time we are presented information and encouraged to think about these matters in terms of simplistic soundbites. This is of course a recipe for mass confusion and misunderstanding.
From Malignant to Normal
At a recent Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) meeting, a board member commented on the consequences of having “affordable” apartment units in the community. According to him, persons who live in this type of housing would be “transients” and unlikely to adequately care for the property which would have a negative impact on property values. In addition, people living in that type of housing would most likely have more than the expected number of persons living there and would also have more cars than allowed. We know this, the board member continued, because in our neighborhood this is exactly what happens.
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About Project Neighbors
Project Neighbors is a project of Neighbors Corp., an Indiana not-for-profit corporation, which is recognized as a tax exempt public charity pursuant to Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Donations to public charities are tax deductible to the extent provided for in law.