Community Fund

Several years ago, West Indianapolis was chosen as one of six neighborhoods to participate in the Great Indy Neighborhoods Initiatives (GINI) Demonstration Initiative.  Through this program, the neighborhood engaged additional partners and crafted a quality of life plan for their neighborhood, envisioning how we were going to make our community a better place to live, work, visit, and raise families.

The initial priorities for this plan include neighborhood beautification, making safe places for kids to play and learn, and making sure adults have access to continuing education and job training resources.   In an effort to fund priorities identified in the quality of life plan, and to make this plan a reality, the West Indianapolis Community Fund (WICF) was born.

“The West Indianapolis Community Fund is all about the power of working together.  In West Indianapolis, we believe the best way to improve the neighborhood is working together on projects we develop and finance right here in the community,” says Beth Gibson, Community Building Coordinator at West Indianapolis Development Corporation.

Community partners working to improve the neighborhood include West Indianapolis Development Corporation, West Indianapolis Neighborhood Congress, Mary Rigg Neighborhood Center, neighborhood Indianapolis Public Schools, West Indianapolis Branch Library and Southwest Health Center.

The community fund is an innovative way to finance these efforts. The community fund will operate like a “community chest” so we can pool resources and work together for the common vision.  By giving to the West Indianapolis Community Fund you help all neighborhood partners and you make the power of working together even stronger.

Giving where you live and deciding how the dollars will be distributed, the organizations have formed a WICF Advisory Committee, made up of representatives of the community’s acknowledged revitalization partners, that will distribute funds each year in accordance with the goals of the quality of life plan.  The funds are administered through the Central Indiana Community Foundation.

Thanks to the generosity of our donors, WICF has funded 52 projects since it inception in 2009. To make a donation, make checks payable to the

West Indianapolis Community Fund,

and send to the

Central Indiana Community Foundation
615 North Alabama Street, Suite 119
Indianapolis, IN 46204-1498

All gifts to the fund are tax-deductible as allowable by law.For more information on the West Indianapolis Community Fund contact Beth Gibson, at 317-638-9432 x 4 or Beth@westindydev.org.

For an application and more information: https://www.westindydev.org/application