Our City Our Voice

The Latinas Welding Guild has been smashing barriers in a world where women are under-represented. Beating the odds in male-dominated industries such as welding doesn’t come easy. But, the Latinas Welding Guild has risen above the challenge.

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Efforts to improve equity and access at the polls are moving full steam ahead thanks to the Fort Wayne-based nonprofit, Count Us In. With Tuesday marking National Voter Registration Day, the organization is moving forward with its new Racial Justice Accessibility Fellowship. In just a few years, the agency has helped register over 750 voters. They have a specific focus on people who have disabilities and those who have historically been disenfranchised. The new class of Fellows’ representatives say the class will learn the tools to help bring more people to the polls.

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$4 million grant aims to improve college enrollment for Marion County high school students as part of a newly rolled-out program called College Matters. The Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation is providing the funding with hope as more students enroll and come to college, they’ll not only stay in Indiana and join in the economic growth but share their knowledge to help others navigate college enrollment. Victory College Prep, part of the work is in the name, and $150,000 of a $4 million grant will help even more students prepare for college.

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Indianapolis Public Schools is expanding its racial equity work. The district wants to include parents in its equity training. IPS calls it groundwater training for IPS parents. According to the IPS website, groundwater training is “designed to help practitioners at all levels internalize the reality that we live in a racially structured society, and that is what causes racial inequity.” Representatives say if we have any chance of moving forward, it’s important to have teachers, staff, and parents in alignment.

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Improving education to gain access to tech jobs is a central focus for the nonprofit Code Black Indy. The organization is expanding its work thanks to a growing commitment and financial support. Code Black Indy says systemic issues has often limited access to tech careers for Black and brown people, who make up about 4% of those in the field. Now able to expand its K-12 work into more schools and adult-centered programming, representatives hope to help shift the statistics. Code Black Indy is expanding its grid. It found it’s footing during the pandemic, and continues to power up under its committed staff and president, Sam Campbell.

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 Indiana’s blood supply is falling short. Several organizations are partnering and asking for more minorities to come forward. They say there’s more to donations than just your blood type. Right now, Black people account for 1/2-% of all blood donations. Matching blood types is important and minorities carry unique antigens that help with complications from child birth and blood diseases that largely impact minorities, such as sickle cell. Indiana is usually facing an emergency need for blood donations. Now, it has an urgent need for minority blood donors.

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The opioid epidemic has a higher impact on young people and communities of color, with an estimated 300 people dying nationally due to overdose every day. On Saturday, the patch of grass outside Overdose Lifeline on West 42nd Street will be packed with overdose awareness ribbons to symbolize overdose deaths. The organization says its work is to curb outcomes, break the stigma of addiction, and remember those who have died. Overdose Lifeline’s mission is to increase access to overdose prevention and education services, while also removing the stigma of addiction and providing proper care and access to treatment for those who need it or are at risk.

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The American Civil Liberties Union is challenging Indiana’s encroaching-on-an-investigation law.It gives police officers the right to tell citizens to move back 25 feet or risk jail time and a criminal record. The ACLU says the law gives police unbridled discretion.

The ACLU filed the lawsuit on behalf of a citizen journalist in South Bend. The lawsuit claims police told him to move back 25 feet during an investigation and had another officer come and push them back another 25 feet.

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WISH-TV is teaming up with Teachers’ Treasures, a free store for teachers, for the ninth annual Gr8 Paper Push to help stock classrooms with school supplies. Margaret Sheehan from Teachers’ Treasures joined Daybreak to speak more about the organization and how they help teachers across Indiana.

According to the National Education Association, more than 90% of teachers spend their own money on school supplies and each year they spend an average of $800-$1,200 to help their students succeed.

Every dollar raised turns into $15 of supplies. In 2022, we collected more than $310,000 to help support area teachers.

To donate, click here. The last day to donate is Aug. 3.

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As the housing crisis hits Indiana’s growing immigrant community, two agencies are partnering to ease challenges in the application process.Immigrant Welcome Center representatives say it’s safe to say all new immigrants face housing insecurity, especially if they don’t already have family here or a sponsor. Then you add missing documentation and identification, it becomes an uphill climb.

Housing is one of the top resources searched for immigrants in Indiana. The crisis seen across the state is even more concentrated in undocumented communities when you factor in missing documentation and language barriers.

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