Project Neighbors Blog & News
Allies Against Racism
Last year we worked to defend African-American students who had been bullied, unjustly disciplined, and retaliated against, and we were able to help convince the school administration to develop a plan to end the continued bullying and assist a student in academic success. The impact of NEO’s programs can be told in our data such as 2,300 high school graduates, but it is best told by our students and their families.
NEO: 11 Years Strong
Eleven years ago, Project Neighbors (PN) helped establish Neighbors’ Educational Opportunities (NEO) as a non-profit organization. PN Board Members Sharon Mortensen and Al Trost joined me as NEO’s founding Board members and PN supported NEO with a short-term line of credit until NEO’s funding sources kicked in.
The impact of NEO’s programs can be told in our data such as 2,300 high school graduates, but it is best told by our students and their families.
WVLP 103.1 FM – Your Community Radio Station
WVLP.LP is your community radio station at 103.1 FM and streaming live at WVLP.org. WVLP, like Hilltop Neighborhood House, HealthLinc, Neighbors’ Educational Opportunities (NEO), Neighbors Place, and dozens of homes throughout the community is a creation of Project Neighbors. WVLP has been on the air for over 20 years and has provided an alternative to most other media that is dominated and controlled by large corporations who are in the media business primarily to make money. For example, locally the ultimate owner of the Post Tribune is Alden Global Capital, a hedge fund, which also owns 6% of Lee Enterprises, a large corporation which owns the Northwest Indiana Times. The absence of external ownership and control allows WVLP to respond to the needs of the community and offer a wide range of creative programming that other venues are unable to provide.
Life At Neighbors Place
Originally built to house what was to become HealthLinc, Neighbors Place is an apartment building housing 18 low-income women. Very affordable, the women are provided with all utilities, free TV, free WiFi, two laundry areas, and a 3000 square foot, grade level common room. Their individual apartments on two upper floors are under 300 square feet with a full bath and kitchenette.
Why I Am Committed to Financially Supporting the Freedom Recovery Fund
Over the past few years, I found myself searching for ways that I could respond to the issues of racial inequity. We have been bombarded with news stories that invariably end with the words, “disproportionately impacting Black Americans.” Blacks are three times more likely to die of COVID and have experienced a decrease of three years in life expectancy compared to one year for whites. Blacks have an unemployment rate twice as high as that of whites. Police violence is now the leading cause of death for young Black men. Black men are six times more likely to be arrested, convicted and given long sentences than whites. Black women are three times more likely than whites to die in childbirth. Estimates of the unrecompensed financial value of Black work to build this county range from $14 to $95 trillion and, despite the vast magnitude of this contribution, Black wealth today is one tenth the wealth of whites.
1st Source Bank Partners with the Freedom Recovery Fund
A critical component of the FRF’s Individual Development Account (IDA) initiative was to secure a strong bank partnership. Matt Vessely, the Regional President of 1st Source Bank, immediately saw the benefit of such a relationship as the initiative brought a unique and focused path for the bank to meet their mission of “helping people achieve security, build wealth and realize their dreams.”
Freedom Recovery Fund: Emergency Loan Program (Thank You)
The FRF committee would like to thank all the donors to this needs-based program for residents of color in our community. Together we can make a difference.
Freedom Recovery Fund Profile: Clarence
This program is more than just financial, but also being my own boss. Through this program, I will have the opportunity to have complete creative control of my career.
Freedom Recovery Fund Profile: Essence
Essence Roberson is a young African American from the Southside of Chicago. Her passion for mental health has pushed her to start Essence Mia Luxx (EML). EML was established in 2020 and has strived to help provide the opportunity for people to embrace themselves as they are. Essence believes that mental health and self-care are important for all, and she focuses on creating self-care products that are catered to people of color.
Introducing the Freedom Recovery Fund
To explicitly focus on the building of Black wealth and to closing the growing gap, we established the Freedom Recovery Fund (FRF).
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!
When Things Work Out
Being in the right place at the right time can lead to an amazing outcome.
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
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 time and motivation to volunteer. But in the beginning, one must target the...
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.
Needed – A Cultural Revolution
The cultural revolution necessary to get people to think differently about housing must tap issues that exist at a very deep level of the American psyche and are tied into a person’s identity and status.