Connecting with Community: Local Initiatives Support Corporation

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - A quaint, remodeled home sits on a quiet street in the Fountain Square neighborhood. New windows, siding and patio furniture stand out to Courtney Furr, 28, who will be the home’s new owner at the end of the month.

“My goal was to buy a home by the time I was 30,” says Furr. “I’m 28 now, so I’m two years ahead of schedule.”

A Homeownership Development program available through Fountain Square's neighborhood corporation, SEND, made purchasing the home possible. But the program would never exist without the help of an Indianapolis non-profit you've probably never heard of: LISC Indianapolis.

LISC stands for Local Initiatives Support Corporation. LISC works with local nonprofit community development organizations to help transform distressed urban neighborhoods into healthy communities that are great places to live, work, do business, and raise families.

“What we do is we provide early dollars into a project for things like acquiring the land and paying for architectural fees,” says LISC Executive Director Bill Taft. “We pave the way for organizations to be able to walk into a bank and get more money do a project.”

Although you may not know the organization, you have probably seen its investments. In Fountain Square, LISC has given more than $200,000 in facade grants to small businesses to up-fit store fronts.

The Fountain Square fountain that sits at the intersection of Virginia Avenue, Prospect Street and Shelby Street is the fourth to have existed in that area. LISC provided the original loan to pay for design and architectural work so that it could be rebuilt.

A rundown grocery store on the near northeast side became Tindley School with LISC as one of its first investors. LISC has worked with many charter schools in Marion County to provide loans and grants to pay for design and purchasing.

The touted NFL Legacy Project, known as "The Boner Center," started with LISC, who pitched the idea to the Super Bowl Host Committee and then paid for much of the project.

Taft remembers helping Sun King Brewing Co. when they first began in 2009. At the time, Sun King was the first full scale production brewery in Indianapolis since Indianapolis Brewing Company closed its doors in 1948.

"We actually gave them the grant to put a sign up and create a new entry when they were first opening up and they weren't sure how that was going to work out."

Since LISC opened a chapter in Indianapolis in 1992, the organization has funneled more than $120 million into building projects in this city, which leveraged over $500 million in neighborhood development.

The neighborhoods of focus are:

• East 10th Street
• Fountain Square
• Irvington
• North Meridian Street

If you want to take part in an upcoming conversation on housing in these neighborhoods, click here .