At 29th and Clifton, near Riverside, there’s a sense of collaboration, unity and pride. It’s a place where neighbors look out for each other and not-for-profit organizations passionately amplify the gifts and assets of the community’s youth and young adults. In this month’s episode of For Good, CICF ambassador and resident, DeAmon Harges, along with a few of his neighbors, highlight the talents and opportunities of their community.

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Transcription of episode available below.

WHO YOU’RE LISTENING TO

Kim Jacobs – WFYI Media

Diop Adisa – Kheprw Institute

Phyllis Boyd – executive director of Groundwork Indy

DeAmon Harges – CICF community ambassador

Luke Hazelton – GroundCorp member at Groundwork Indy

Brandon Baker – GroundCorp member at Groundwork Indy

Jamahl Crouch – GroundCorp member at Groundwork Indy and artist (view his work on Instagram)

Wildstyle – resident and photographer (view his work on Instagram and in the slides below)

DISCOVER MORE

Groundwork Indy

Kheprw Institute

Learn more about our community ambassadors

WHERE IS CLIFTON-RIVERSIDE?

Click to enlarge map. Map created by Naplab. Learn more about the map and where you can get one for yourself here.

PHOTOGRAPHY OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD PROVIDED BY WILDSTLYE

Welcome to For Good, Central Indiana Community Foundation’s podcast, highlighting stories about passion, purpose and progress in Central Indiana.

At CICF, we believe in opportunity and equity. We believe that our communities and neighborhoods are stronger because of our diversity. And we believe that with innovation and boldness, Central Indiana can be a place where everyone can reach their full potential, no matter their place, race or identity.

This is our community and these are your stories.

It began as a streetcar suburb. In Indianapolis’ northwest Riverside neighborhood, stores clustered at its busiest corners. American foursquares and bungalows still grace tree-lined streets.

DEAMON: If you’re on Clifton, if you’re on Riverside, if you’re on Boulevard, they all have a particular flavor. But there’s also a strand, a thread that makes you feel like it’s all one neighborhood.

The construction of I-65 brought change. Instead of traveling through the neighborhood, the public began traveling over it, overlooking the nearly 7,500 people who live and work here.

DEAMON: This is an area that’s experienced chronic disinvestment, the result of institutional racism. There is a high rate of incarceration of re-entry folks. The annual income for a family is well below the median. So a lot of people wanting to live in a place that’s great and life-enhancing, just like anybody else, but having a lot of barriers to get there.

In the northwest Riverside neighborhood, DeAmon Harges is known as the roving listener.

DEAMON: One of the things that we know, we need each other. Right? And so we have to practice that.