The CDC reports that 1 in 4 Americans over the age of 65 experiences a fall each year, leading to more than 3 million injuries and 800,000 hospitalizations. As members of the care management team at IU Health Connected Care in Indianapolis, our job is to help keep our patients as safe and healthy as possible, and that often includes conversations about their home and risk of falling. IU HealthConnected Care is enhanced primary care exclusively for adults on Medicare, Medicare

In 2013 Dave Withey, Tom Hawkins and Jeanette Jefferis had no idea the little organization they were building would become an integral part of the Indianapolis social services landscape within a decade's time. From taking their early days of retirement to work on every aspect of the organization to now handing over the reins one new employee at a time. Today, September 1, 2021 marks the day Dave hands over the reins as executive director to Rachel Nelson. He gladly takes up t

I once was told by a long-ago retiree that “no one cares what I did for so many years. I’m ‘just’ retired.” I can’t help but think of that statement each time I speak with a homeowner we’re helping. It struck me again when I had the opportunity to chat with Mr. Jerry Bennett while his home was being painted by a group of volunteers from M.D. Wise. “Who am I?” Jerry contemplated my typically simple introductory question, meant to pull out an interviewees name and perhaps a lit

Jay Barclay has been volunteering with NeighborLink Indianapolis for the last five years. He generously gives at least one Saturday each month to help hoist gutters, fix fascia boards and guide new handy-people-to-be on proper hand tool usage. Jay is one of the long-time members of our gutter team. Jay isn’t a professional gutter guy, in fact, his work week uses a far different skill set. One might wonder how he got into this line of volunteering. “Dave Withey and I attend th

We’re all familiar with the African proverb, “it takes a village to raise a child.” In Ms. Cecile Treece’s case, it took a little pocket of neighbors in the 46218 area. “I could have afforded to move to a ‘better neighborhood’ but nothing was wrong with mine. I stayed because I had some wonderful neighbors who helped me raise my son,” said Cecile Treece. “I worked twelve hours a day for years! When my son was little, my neighbors helped so much.” Cecile has lived in her home

Dave Withey, Founder and Executive Director of NeighborLink Indianapolis Foundation (NLI) will step down from that position September 1, 2021. Withey started NLI in 2013 shortly after retiring from a career in IT with Lilly. A few helpful home repairs for neighbors led to his realization that a gap within Indianapolis’ social services left low-income homeowners, specifically seniors and those with disabilities, at risk of losing their home or being unable to age in place. Wit

I have been working alongside NeighborLink Indianapolis as an AmeriCorps Public Ally for the last ten months. NeighborLink Indianapolis provides home repairs to low-income individuals with disabilities and senior homeowners at no cost. Most of my work with NeighborLink Indianapolis has been behind a computer working with data systems helping establish their customer relations management system; however, I made it out to volunteer a couple of times during my time with them. A

This role coordinates the projects and students for the BY Plus program. The BY Plus program provides construction work experience to young adults with the goal of helping them begin a career in construction or a construction-related field. The Project Coordinator is responsible for the planning and logistics related to weekly work experience projects in conjunction with other members of the NeighborLink team. The Project Coordinator will be present at each work experience pr

We are so honored to be among the finalists for the Impact 100 Change-Maker grant! Impact 100 Greater Indianapolis , a charitable women’s giving circle, announced during their “Big Reveal” virtual event on May 12, 2021 that NeighborLink Indianapolis Foundation is one of five Central Indiana nonprofit organizations that will compete for a $100,000 high-impact grant on June 29, 2021. In lieu of the traditional awards celebration, the Impact 100 Greater Indianapolis 2021 Change

What do a credit union and a home improvement non-profit have in common? The goal of helping their local community! Indianapolis-based Elements Financial is proud to support NeighborLink Indianapolis through multiple grants and corporate contributions, involvement in our annual all-employee volunteer day, and employee representation on the NeighborLink board. Elements employee and NeighborLink board member Jake Engel explains, “When we first met with a representative of Nei

“The good we secure for ourselves is precarious and uncertain until it is secure for all of us and incorporated into our common life.” —Jane Addams Jane Addams, a founder of the field of social work and Hull House in Chicago, a pioneer and relentless warrior for social justice, exemplifies the impact that service to others can have on our own mental health. As a young woman, following the death of her father in the summer of 1881, Addams experienced depression and suffered fr

Imagine being eighteen years old, freshly graduated from high school and being handed the keys to your own home. The elation! The freedom! Ms. Toliver was that eighteen year old 43 years ago. It had been her grandparents home originally. Unfortunately, they passed at an early age and the home was left vacant for a little while. Toliver’s father maintained the yard and kept up the house to keep it in good order, but no one lived there until Toliver came of age. At that point,

My husband and I purchased our first (and current) home in 2008. It was a foreclosure and certainly looked daunting to any knowledgeable person we had come to look at it. That was our bliss. We weren’t knowledgeable, we were enthusiastic optimists who loved old homes. Did I mention this home was old? Our home is 1920s old. Upon receiving the keys to our new space, we walked into the foyer—with its cracks in the plaster, broken toilet in the nearby half bath and deafeningly em

The COVID Recovery Initiative (CRI) through NeighborLink Indianapolis Foundation, (NeighborLink), has been created for the purpose of increasing our capacity to not only address our current backlog of 50 waiting indoor home repair requests from 2020, but to also prepare for the additional requests that will quickly pour in as soon as we resume accepting indoor requests. NeighborLink’s mission is simple, to provide home repairs at no cost to homeowners in need who are seniors

Saturday, March 13, 2021 we had our first group project of 2021 and wow what a project! The Buffalo Soldiers Motorcycle Club chose to help NeighborLink Indianapolis with their 3rd annual day of service. That’s not to say they don’t do community service at other times in the year, this group is very active in the community and participates regularly in volunteer projects. This group of retired military, firefighters, police officers and other service-minded professions came f

Saturday, February 27, 2021 was a big day for us! We joined our board member, Phil Kirk, for our first Dessert & Dialogue! Phil, who has served on our board for two years now, brought together a collection of friends and coworkers for a friendly dialogue over some big topics. We provided the desserts and gladly leapt into the dialogue. The evening was kicked off with introductions and thoughts around the advance question, given with their dessert delivery and in the event inv

We began because Dave Withey, our executive director, had been helping his aging friends and family with small home repairs for a number of

NeighborLink Indianapolis' role in this exciting program is providing the opportunities for BY Plus students in training

It isn’t uncommon for us to hear the question, “why do home repair for free when that person should just move?” The question isn’t a negative one, per se, but one that speaks from more economic privilege than the inquisitor may realize. For many who do not experience poverty, it can seem like a foreign concept, especially when it is far too easy to keep tunnel vision for your own space and means. However, when we look at the 2019 U.S. Census Bureau survey, it indicates approx

This is a first for us at NeighborLink Indianapolis! Due to our size, previous 100% volunteer staff, and very much start-up style for many years, our organization had never put together an official Report. Sure, we filed our 990s and of course met all reporting needs to help our operations be transparent to our donors. We’d even been rated a top nonprofit by GreatNonProfits.com . We hadn’t had the ability to put together a good visual of our prior year’s progress. January of