Indianapolis Neighborhood Housing Partnerships (INHP) has announced ten recipients for a total of $900,000 in grants to help create or preserve affordable, sustainable housing opportunities. Two recipients work in Midtown: Near North Development Corporation (NNDC) and Greater Indianapolis Habitat for Humanity.
Funds come from the Indianapolis Neighborhood Development Initiative (INDI), a competitive grant program that has received support from another nonprofit headquartered in Midtown, Lilly Endowment Inc. “INDI grants support these community-based organizations’ ability to continue doing great work maintaining and developing affordable housing options throughout the city,” said Moira Carlstedt, president and CEO of INHP.
Jim Morris, Greater Indy Habitat for Humanity president & CEO said the $150,000 grant will be used to help the organization provide 25 families with first-time, affordable homeownership opportunities and preserve 75 homes through homeowner repairs in 2019. “With this general operating funding, we will continue to provide increased stability and independence through homeownership, contributing to improved health and well-being, education advancement, and asset building for local families,” he said in a statement.
Michael Osborne, president of the Near North Development Corporation (NNDC), declined to divulge the amount of the grant. “NNDC developed 15 homes in Crown Hill neighborhood in 2018 and will be doing another 13 homes in 2019,” he said in a statement. Osborne noted that the cost to develop new high-quality housing for home ownership in the area is higher than the fair market value of the completed home. “They do not generate ‘profit’ and so do not provide enough revenues to NNDC to cover the cost of the staff it takes to do the projects,” he said. “INDI funding helps support the organizational capacity required to do the work.”
