Congressman Carson Secures Over $10 Million for Indianapolis Organizations

WASHINGTON, DC—Today, Congressman André Carson (IN-07) announced that he successfully secured federal funding for 14 community projects in Indianapolis. In total, these organizations will receive $10.3 million to fund youth services, affordable housing, public safety, infrastructure, and more.

“Grassroots organizations have long served as the heartbeat of change in Indianapolis said Congressman Carson. “Each year, Community Project Funding enables me to translate project ideas into the money necessary to make those ideas a reality. I advocated for these projects because they address the foundations our most vulnerable residents need to succeed. From supporting youth all the way to senior housing, these projects support Indianapolis residents at every stage of life.”

Below is a list of project names and descriptions:

Youth Services:

1. Project Name: Fathers and Families Center Building Rehabilitation

Award Amount: $219,190

Project Description: The funding would be used to rehabilitate the Fathers and Families Center’s building and make it more technologically and structurally sound and family-friendly. The rehabilitation would include new siding, roof, security upgrades and IT infrastructure upgrades. These upgrades would allow for training to be held on site and be a long-term cost saving to the organization and allow Fathers and Families Center to enhance their role as a workforce training center.

2. Project Name: John H. Boner Center Rivoli Building Rehabilitation

Award Amount: $850,000

Project Description: The funding will be used for the John Boner Neighborhood Centers (JBNC) Rivoli Building Rehabilitation project. Provided funds will cover costs for storefronts, doors, roof, downspouts, and clay title as well as costs for planning and pre-development of the building for expanded community usage. The long-term goal is to establish a community serving space at the rehabilitated building, providing a hub for youth to develop their talents and education, job training, anti-abuse initiatives and counseling. 

3. Project Name: Boys and Girls Club of Indianapolis STEM Underserved Children and Youth: Ultimate Afterschool Care

Award Amount: $300,000

Project Description:The funding would be used by the Boys and Girls Club of Indianapolis STEM for Underserved Children and Youth: Ultimate Afterschool Care program for STEM education, with an emphasis on K-8 and unserved populations that target children in poverty. The program is inspired by NASA’s mission and will be for two Boys and Girls Club sites that were scheduled to close, but the proposed funding would reconstitute the two sites as functional, STEM pilot, programs.

Public Safety:

4. Project Name: The Bloom Project, Inc. Recidivism, Juvenile Delinquency, and Crime Prevention Program

Award Amount: $250,000

Project Description: The funding would be used by Bloom Project Inc., Power of Tru Colors: Recidivism, Juvenile Delinquency, and Crime Prevention Program to bring together justice involved youth to develop leadership skills, intervention, peer mentoring and civic engagement in order to prevent further delinquency.

5. Project Name: Indianapolis Public Safety Foundation Indy Peace Fellowship Program

Award Amount: $963,000

Project Description: The funding would be used by Indianapolis Public Safety Foundation to intervene, prevent, and reduce gun violence through the Indy Peace Fellowship. If awarded, these funds would be used to hire an additional 15 peacemakers, pay for outreach efforts, and pay for the transformational travel for the fellows that are successful in the program.

6. Project Name: Marion County Prosecutor’s Office Body Worn Camera Unit

Award Amount: $214,000

Project Description: The funding would be used by Marion County Prosecutor’s Office Body Worn Camera Unit (BCRU) to purchase and install state of the art redaction software to efficiently review sensitive information and data, and to increase staff capacity, by adding an additional paralegal to review body worn camera data. This software, Veritone Redact and Veritone Illuminate, are state of the art body worn camera software and transcription service. The software and staffing upgrades for the Body Worn Camera Unit will improve the quality of prosecutorial actions by strengthening and expediting charging decisions, resulting in better outcomes that ultimately improve community safety.

7. Project Name: City of Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department Public Safety Camera Program

Award Amount: $963,000

Project Description: The funding would be used by the City of Indianapolis and the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department (IMPD) to modernize the Public Safety Camera program, which includes expanding to a true Real-Time Crime Center (RTTC) operation as seen in most other major metropolitan areas. Key components include upgrading the technology infrastructure that manages all feeds from fixed video cameras, mobile trailer video cameras, automated license plate readers, and community funded B-Link camera integrations.

Infrastructure:

8. Project Name: City of Indianapolis Department of Public Utilities Lead Service Line Replacement Program

Award Amount: $959,752

Project Description:The funding would be used to identify and replace lead service lines in economically disadvantaged communities in Indianapolis, specifically the Martindale Brightwood and Near Northwest Riverside neighborhoods.

9. Project Name: Indianapolis Public Transportation Corporation Blue Line Infrastructure

Award Amount: $1,000,000

Project Description:The funding would be used to improve a high-performing transit route that connects the Indianapolis International Airport, Downtown Indianapolis, and diverse neighborhoods. The project will replace deficient stormwater infrastructure and pavement, and introduce dedicated bus lanes that will improve speed, reliability, and safety. Funds will support stormwater construction of the Pleasant Run and Pogues Run outfalls and includes 2-5’ diameter trunk sewer. The funds will pay for infrastructure to reduce flooding events, which will improve public health and safety. The existing deficient combined sewer system will be replaced with a modern separated sewer system and detention sites.

10. Project Name: Indianapolis Airport Authority Common Use Terminal Equipment System

Award Amount: $500,000

Project Description:The funding will be used for the Indianapolis Airport Authority (IND) for the installation of Common Use Terminal Equipment (CUTE) at IND that will enable the sharing of ticket counters, passenger hold-rooms, boarding bridges, baggage systems, and other commonly used areas and equipment by both current and future air carriers, thereby increasing capacity without the costly expansion of the terminal or addition of new equipment.

11. Project Name: City of Indianapolis Market Street Reconstruction

Award Amount: $850,000

Project Description:The funding would be used for the complete reconstruction of bricked Market Street from Pennsylvania and Delaware Streets in the heart of downtown Indianapolis. The current roadway is over 60 years old and in deteriorating condition. Improvements to the roadway will allow for Americans with Disabilities Act compliance and improve pedestrian accessibility throughout the corridor.

12. Project Name:City of Indianapolis Mars Hill Flood Control Improvement District 

Award Amount: $1,383,069 

Project Description:The Mars Hill Flood Control Improvement District (FCID) Project will provide relief to families in the Mars Hill neighborhood who are currently experiencing flooding from the State Ditch waterway. This new funding builds on earlier investments from the Inflation Reduction Act to now expand this climate resiliency project in the face of more frequent extreme weather events causing dangerous flooding for residents. The project will utilize three green infrastructure solutions to remove approximately 500 parcels from the Special Flood Hazard Area of the State Ditch. The project is focused on greening, stream naturalization and bank stabilization of the State Ditch waterway by converting State Ditch between the Sam Jones Expressway and West Troy Avenue to a two-stage, nature-based channel.

Housing:

13. Project Name: Pathway Resource Center Grassy Creek Development and Senior Housing Community

Award Amount: $1,050,000

Project Description: The funding would be used to construct the Grassy Creek Development and Senior Housing Community. This comprehensive development will be to build 70 senior affordable housing units. The mixed-use development project will also include a new operational center for Pathway Resource Center and a grocer on the ground floor. The affordable senior units will be located on floors two and three.

14. Project Name:City of Indianapolis Sherman Park Redevelopment

Award Amount: $850,000

Project Description:The Sherman Park Redevelopment funding would be used to build site enabling infrastructure and revitalize a brownfield, which will catalyze job creation, and facilitate planned activities including workforce training for formerly incarcerated returning citizens and affordable housing accessible to returning citizens and individuals who have experienced homelessness. It will also remediate and remove significant environmental barriers to redevelopment and spur economic development activities in the federally designated Indy East Promise Zone (IEPZ).

About Community Project Funding:

Community Project Funding is selected based on guidelines issued by the House Appropriations Committee. Eligible non-profit entities, state and local governments are permitted to receive funding. Additional information on the guidelines governing Community Project Funding can be found here.