2015 Annual Report. Neighborhoods Inc.

Transcription

1 2015 Annual Report Neighborhoods Inc.

2 from the executive director Dear friends, Neighborhoods Incorporated of Hammond Indiana (NI) continued to improve Calumet Region neighborhoods during its 18th year of presence in Northwest Indiana and the south suburbs of Chicago, while mourning the loss of a longtime board director. Ardell S. Young, who served as an NI board director for over 10 years and was chairman of the company for seven, passed away on January 18, His wisdom, wit, technical knowledge and appropriate leadership helped NI staff ride out several trying times. It is hard to describe how much he is missed. NI was funded again by Foundations of East Chicago to do its trademark, nationally-recognized Best House on the Block Contest in the Indiana Harbor section of East Chicago. A full report of this ongoing and productive project is found on pages 4 and 5. Due to the Lake County Community Fund at Legacy Foundation and the ongoing generosity of Hammond native, Hammond High School and Purdue University graduate and track star Roland G. Parrish, for the first time ever, a Best House on the Block Contest was conducted in the University Park neighborhood of Gary! Project outcomes exceeded NI s expectations. NI showed that this project creates positive and quantifiable metrics in yet another part of the older urban core neighborhoods prevalent in the Calumet Region. Please go to pages 8 and 9 to read the details. For five years, NI has organized a 9-11 Tribute on September 11 to honor the victims of this terrible tragedy. In 2015, 146 businesses joined together in solidarity to acknowledge the memory of those who perished by running Never Ever Forget 9-11 on their marquees or posting a sign in their windows. The target area of this project has expanded from a few businesses on Kennedy Ave. in Hammond in 2011 to include Kennedy and Highway Avenues in Highland and Indianapolis Blvd. in Hammond by was another good year for the Calumet Region in neighborhoods where NI has conducted its professionally-operated, outcome-oriented programs, events and projects. Raising the bar, Keith D. Speaks Executive Director

3 our mission We will work to retain and promote economic, racial and ethnic diversity in the Calumet Region, principally through programs designed to: Increase home ownership opportunities Improve the quality of ALL housing Build neighborhood pride Our primary means of achieving this goal include: Promoting and facilitating home ownership Encouraging improvement of properties to home ownership quality Assisting others to improve their homes Providing construction and design services to neighborhood residents Sponsoring community outreach efforts to increase neighborhood pride Our primary tools for achieving this goal include: Innovative loan programs Rehabilitation projects and construction assistance Home ownership training and foreclosure prevention Community outreach and marketing Our vision is to build and strengthen board of directors Officers Keith A. Magiera, President Heraeus Precious Metals Highland, IN resident Nick Zivanovic, Secretary Griffith High School Hammond, IN resident Directors Robert P. Garrison Calumet City, IL resident Amy Wigsmoen Hammond, IN resident 3

4 best house on the block east chicago For the third consecutive year, NI was awarded a grant from Foundations of East Chicago to coordinate its nationally-recognized, premier project, the Best House on the Block Contest. NI chose to focus on the Harbor area of the Twin City, dovetailing with other improvement efforts of the City of East Chicago. The contest received an enthusiastic response from the entrants, with 103 participants adding nearly $53,000 of value to Harbor properties. Projects ranged from painting, to siding, landscaping, windows, cement work and many other exterior improvements. Entrants had several months to complete their projects, and judging was based on the degree of improvement to the exterior of the property from before and after photos. All judges hail from communities outside of East Chicago. This year, judges were from Calumet City, Griffith and Merrillville. An award ceremony was held on October 28, 2015 at the East Chicago Main Public Library, where families, friends, neighbors and other supporters of the project gathered to celebrate their hard work and learn who had won the top prize of $500 for making the most drastic improvement to their property. Since the contest area was split into two sections, there were two first place winners, pictured below E. Guadalupe Circle Parrish Avenue

5 This project added a lot of excitement to the community and gave us a chance to talk to neighbors! Theresa M. Harbor resident 4120 Fir Street 3726 Grand Avenue

6 NI s annual 9-11 Tribute has grown significantly since its inception in 2011, from a couple dozen businesses on Kennedy Avenue in Hammond participating that year to 146 on Kennedy and Highway Avenue in Hammond and Highland and Indianapolis Blvd. in Hammond in To make this possible, NI enlisted the assistance of two student volunteers from Hammond s College Bound program to solicit businesses on Indianapolis Blvd. in Hammond to display the Never Ever Forget 9-11 poster in their business window. For the second year, Lakeshore News (Channel 56) covered the tribute and made it their lead story on the evening news on September 11, NI has no plans of slowing down the momentum it has created to remember those we lost on that tragic day. Plans are to expand the tribute each year, eventually making it a regional event. With support from businesses such as those who donated (page 7), NI will make it happen.

7 Thank You to these businesses for their financial support! Boilermakers #374 Freddy s Steak House Lindy s Ace Hardware Cakes By Karen Hammond Muffler The Dance Connection Discount Pizza Supply House of Pizza Venice Pizza Flip s Auto Clinic Lake Federal Bank Vyto s Pharmacy Lake Tire

8 best house ongary the block NI s involvement in the resurgence of Gary began in 2011 with the rehab of a home on Roosevelt St. In 2012, with the cooperation of Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson, Sheriff Buncich and the Lake County Work Release program, as well as volunteers from First Baptist Church in Hammond, NI was able to refurbish Rees Park and clean up dozens of vacant lots. With the support of the Lake County Community Fund at Legacy Foundation, along with a match from Parrish & Associates, Gary became the sixth Calumet Region community to benefit from its first ever Best House on the Block Contest! The target area focused on the neighborhood adjacent to Indiana University Northwest, commonly known as Glen Park. Residents of the area were enthusiastic from the get-go. Dozens of homeowners entered the contest, adding over $26,500 of value to their properties, getting involved in their communities and meeting their neighbors. Contestants had nothing but positive comments about the project: Thank you for giving our family the opportunity to enter the contest! As a family we enjoyed working hard to improve our property. All of the children worked really hard and put forth the effort and it paid off Monroe The contest was beneficial to the neighborhood. As a whole, people want to improve their property value by a joint effort to make the area cleaner and safer Tyler I appreciated this contest and the advice. The advice gave me the incentive to improve my property s overall appearance. I feel that the house looks great! Please continue with this contest. I know others that are looking forward to next year to join and get started Monroe Contestants smile after the award ceremony which recognized the hard work they put in to improve their neighborhood. I really enjoyed participating in the contest. It was fun and exciting. I believe that doing these types of things will motivate the community to do more improvements on their properties. Loved it! Adams Mr. Andrew Kapocius, Director of Facilities and Operations at IUN, generously donated use of the Bergland Auditorium for the awards ceremony December 8. NI gave away nearly $1,000 in door prizes from these local businesses: Domino s Freddy s Steak House Gary Southshore Rail Cats The Henry Company Home Depot Moses EyeCare Center Petro s Restaurant 8 Save-A-Lot Food Stores Ultra Foods Virginia Speaks Venice Pizza Vyto s Pharmacy Zoom Clean Car Wash

9 3730 Monroe Street 405 W. 37th Avenue 3601 Adams Street

10 what people are saying... The scope of work done to my house helped me out in the short and long term as well as in my community. Having the CONTEST ENTRANT sign in front of my house got a lot of my neighbors involved in doing some work to their homes also. Not only neighbors would ask but also people from other communities. This contest had a positive effect on me and the other contestants that got involved. My wife and I were so surprised to receive first place. I was glad to hear the stories of all the contestants that had done so much work to make improvements to their homes. The couple that sat next to us at the award ceremony, Mr. and Mrs. Acevedo, were so glad they received a placement. They were first time homeowners and this will give them incentive to continue to make improvements to their home. Last but not least I would like to thank the Foundations of East Chicago. They support many programs in the city. Without their generous donations, many of the programs in our community would not exist. Joseph & Elida Ochoa, East Chicago residents

11 THANK YOU Our generous supporters have invested $1,804,620 to help NI in its mission of improving neighborhoods. The Calumet Region is a better place to live because of you! INDIVIDUALS 2015 ( ) indicates years of giving

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