Funding Aims to Reduce Violent Crime
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowAn organization focusing on violence reduction strategies has landed $100,000 from the Indianapolis Foundation. The grant for the Indy Public Safety Foundation will be used for short-term programs aimed at slowing a recent increase in homicides. July 16, 2013
News Release
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – The Indianapolis Foundation, an affiliate of Central Indiana Community Foundation, has awarded a $100,000 grant to the Indy Public Safety Foundation. The funds are to support community-based efforts through a small grants program which focuses on immediate, short-term strategies to help reduce violent crime, and in particular, homicides. The grant money may also be used to help convene and establish community partnerships that are needed to have a more comprehensive approach to crime and its root causes.
Established in June 2013, the Indy Public Safety Foundation was created to solicit, receive, leverage and grant charitable funds in support the City's Department of Public Safety. The $100,000 grant will be awarded directly from Indianapolis Foundation grant-making funds; the funds will then be re-awarded by the Indy Public Safety Foundation in support of short-term programs and solutions meant to reduce violent crime in Indianapolis.
Though the Indianapolis Foundation is administering the Marion County and City of Indianapolis City County Council Community Crime Prevention Grant Program, the Foundation’s $100,000 grant is not a part of the Community Crime Prevention Grant Program, not public funds.
According to Brian Payne, President and CEO, Central Indiana Community Foundation, and the Indianapolis Foundation, the grant reflects the Indianapolis Foundation's ongoing commitment to the City of Indianapolis, and the Foundation’s responsiveness to the city's most pressing public needs.
“The Indianapolis Foundation has a long history of leadership of identifying and supporting the basic and most urgent needs of those who live here,” Payne said. “We are all saddened by these tragic crimes and this grant will support programs meant to address this problem in a meaningful way. But in a larger way, this grant will also encourage others within our community to provide support to the Indy Public Safety Foundation.”
“We are extremely pleased to receive the $100,000 grant from the Indianapolis Foundation and look forward to using these funds to help reduce violent crimes in our community,” said Melissa Proffitt Reese, Chairperson of the Indy Public Safety Foundation. “The missions of the Indy Public Safety Foundation and the Community Crime Prevention Grant program are perfectly aligned, and these funds will allow us to quickly address this pressing issue. We are very grateful for the confidence and financial support shown towards the Indy Public Safety Foundation by the Indianapolis Foundation, and are looking forward to producing meaningful results with this grant.”
“I am overwhelmed by the support shown for the mission of Public Safety here in Indianapolis,” said Troy Riggs, Director of the Indianapolis Department of Public Safety. “With the combination of the community leaders on the board of the Indy Public Safety Foundation and this manner of financial support, I believe we will be able to successfully address not only violent crime here in our city, but the root causes of such crime. We are committed to do everything we can to make this city as safe as possible for the citizens of Indianapolis, and the men and women of Public Safety who serve on the front lines every day.”
The Indianapolis Foundation began accepting applications for the Marion County City of Indianapolis City County Council Community Crime Prevention Grant Program on July 1, 2013. Applications will be accepted until July 31st. Grants from the Community Crime Prevention Grant Program will be awarded to eligible not-for-profits on October 1, 2013.
“We are committed to an open, thoughtful process for administering the City's Community Crime Prevention Grants and that will take time. In the interim, we recognize the immediate needs that exist this summer and are looking to build a deep and productive partnership with our City's public safety leaders. That's why the Indianapolis Foundation is making a significant investment in the Indy Public Safety Foundation right now,” said Payne.
For additional information about the Marion County /City of Indianapolis City County Council Community Crime Prevention Grant Program, or to apply, please visit: www.cicf.org, or contact: Alicia Barnett at abarnett@cicf.org, or 317.634.2423. For all media inquiries, please contact: Mike Knight, 317.634.2423, or 317.931.8135.
ABOUT THE COMMUNITY CRIME PREVENTION GRANT PROGRAM:
In August 2006, the Community Crime Prevention Task Force was convened to study the root causes of crime in the community, determine the types of programs most likely to prevent crime or effectively intervene in the lives of those at risk of criminal behavior, and make recommendations about how the community could prevent crime in the future. The task force examined the underlying problems that led to a surge in violent crime in Indianapolis and in 2007 recommended actions to stem the violence and to prevent crime before it occurs. In July 2007, the City-County Council passed Proposal No. 264 to increase the County Option Income Tax (COIT) and establish the Community Crime Prevention Grant (CCPG) program to provide funding for crime prevention initiatives recommended by the Task Force its January 2007 final report.
In June 2012, the Community Crime Prevention Grant program awarded over $1.8M to 18 organizations that specifically provided support to youth programs and to programs that helped previously incarcerated individuals back in to jobs and back in to the community.
At the request of the City-County Council, in April, 2013, the Indianapolis Foundation, a Central Indiana Community Foundation (CICF) affiliate, entered into a contract at the request of City of Indianapolis to manage the $2 million Community Crime Prevention Grant program.
The Indianapolis Foundation Board of Trustees agreed to serve as the fiscal agent and grant manager for the 2013 $2 million Community Crime Prevention Grant allocation, with resources going to support community-based organizations that can demonstrate community impact.
The previous Community Crime Prevention Grant Program, which ended as of May 31st, 2013, was administered by the Indianapolis Parks Foundation. All previous Community Crime Prevention Grant recipients and other interested not-for-profit organizations were invited to reapply for grants from July 1 to July 31, 2013.
The Indianapolis Foundation is accepting applications from nonprofit organizations that seek to:
-Prevent violent crimes among residents
-Provide intervention or prevention services to adults or youth facing unique challenges
-Improve neighborhood safety
-And/or partner with public agencies to help reduce or prevent crime in our community.
For additional information, Community Crime Prevention Grant organizations are encouraged to visit www.cicf.org.
ABOUT THE INDIANAPOLIS FOUNDATION: Established in 1916, the Indianapolis Foundation was one of the first community trusts in America. The Foundation is a public charity and an affiliate of Central Indiana Community Foundation (CICF), a collaborative effort between the community foundations serving Marion and Hamilton Counties.
As Indiana's oldest and largest community foundation, the Indianapolis Foundation was created to ensure that the quality of life in Marion County continuously improves; to help where the needs are greatest and the benefits to the community are most extensive; and to provide donors a vehicle for using their gifts in the best possible way now, and in the future as conditions in the community change. It awards approximately $7 million annually to support current and future community needs