Connecting hearts, minds, and hands to meet needs in our community
More Second Chance Ambassadors Needed!
Have you always wanted to help the disadvantaged, but didn't know how??? This is for you! There are thousands of men and women who are released from incarceration here who deserve a second chance and a job. UNITE INDY is helping equip them through volunteers who teach and mentor them through a Biblically-based job preparation course, Jobs for Life (JfL), that is used in 300 other cities in nine countries. Then we will connect them with employers willing to extend a second chance through our new website, SecondChanceIndy.com. 
We’re starting out with training a group of previously-released parolees, who need work. Once COVID visitation restrictions are lifted, we’ll be taking the JfL course inside the walls of correctional facilities with Mentors who will walk along side reentrants as they learn to thrive in a world of opportunity. We’ll also need a Mentor Team Leader and a Prayer Team Leader. If you’re interested in looking into any of these opportunities, simply click on the highlighted word above. You may look back and see that you've changed lives. Please join us.
Nevada Shows Us Up By Voting In a 36% Payday Cap
The State of Nebraska has made some really big election-night news! The Cornhusker State voted overwhelmingly in favor of placing a cap on payday loans at 36 percent throughout the state—even as federal legislation to do so has stalled. Nebraska is the 17th state to impose restrictions on payday loan interest rates and fees. Said a spokesman, “Predatory payday lending makes racial inequalities in the economy even worse. These lenders disproportionately target people of color, trapping them in a cycle of debt and making it impossible for them to build wealth.” For more on Indiana’s efforts and payday lending Click Here!
You Can Be a Volunteer Jobs For Life Certified Trainer!
UNITE INDY’s Jim Cotterill attended a virtual training session to become certified as a Class Facilitator of Jobs for Life. Other Certified Jobs for Life Class Facilitators include Phillip Moore, Yvette Markey, and Bob Dillingham. Soon, Jobs For Life courses will be available to inmates inside Indiana Department of Correction facilities and county jails in Marion and surrounding counties preparing for release into Marion and surrounding counties. Until that time, we will be serving parolees, who have been released here are are looking for work. For a brief video (2 minutes, 15 seconds) about Jobs for Life, Click Here.
Robert Jackson Named The IPS Inspiring Alumni At 2020 Awards
Robert Jackson, husband of UNITE INDY’s Director of Outreach Sherry Jackson was posthumously awarded one of the highest honors bestowed by Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS) for 2020. A graduate of Crispus Attucks High School, he spearheaded the effort to locate the alumni office on campus to better influence and support students there. As an active member of the the Attucks Alumni Letterman’s Club and National Alumni Association, he used his influence to bring support to CAHS athletes and headed many programs to inform the community about the school’s history and promote involvement and support of academic efforts. We are so proud to have known Robert and blessed with the help of his wife, Sherry. Check out the video! (Go to minute counter 46:23.)
Inmate Letter Writers Needed!
If you enjoy the old fashioned art of letter writing and you’d like to provide encouragement to someone who is serving a long term sentence, you should consider volunteering to be part of our Second Chance Ambassador team as an Inmate Letter Writer. To learn more, and to volunteer, Click Here.
Is it Racism? Or Poverty?
In regard to racism, Jesus might have said, “There will always be the stupid.” So yes, racists still exist. But the world is changing. A powerful shift is becoming obvious to those who work in poor urban areas, and many are starting to think that poverty really is the bigger problem. In spite of many claims, people of differing skin colors work, live and care for each other in families, their jobs, and as friends all over our city. A blanket description of all whites hating blacks and all blacks hating whites is frankly absurd. UNITE INDY is committed to improving the economic status of our city’s poor, with a goal of ending generational poverty. Financial security is a powerful tool against bias and a great place to start. Read more here! 
Why Support UNITE INDY?
UNITE INDY is attacking poverty where it breeds--in urban neighborhoods where there is an overwhelming number of people who return after incarceration--more than 12,000 per year in Marion County alone. Without the option to work, poverty expands. We can stop the curse of poverty by training and employing people. First let's deal with those coming out of prisons and Jails. Second, work in the neighborhoods through urban churches to train, equip and place those who want to get ahead. Finally, to mentor and support workers to create a familial history of working mothers and fathers who pass on generational success, high educational goals, and improved health and security to their children. Find our about our training program here.

Poverty & Unemployment:
After UNITE INDY published a treatise on the 20+% unemployment rate in our poorest neighborhoods, the connection between extremely high unemployment and the high concentration of those who were formerly incarcerated became crystal clear. Reentrants were often virtually unemployable, causing stress in the family while being an additional mouth to feed in what already may be a financially unstable home. The critical mass of justice involved individuals in some urban neighborhoods had produced an economic challenge for every family in the area. 

The answer was to find jobs for these folks. We personally contacted employers who were willing to offer jobs to those who had been incarcerated. This was no small endeavor, considering that employers would have to allow time for visits to parole offices, deal with ankle bracelet controls, and often the necessity to help with transportation to and from work. SecondChanceIndy.com was born--an online site just for those who have been incarcerated. The site provides a list of jobs, information on pay rates, skill requirements, location, benefits and more. Featured are hundreds of links to help with licensing, housing, food, health, and so much more.

Developed by Jim Cotterill, UNITE INDY's co-founder, SecondChanceIndy.com works in tandem with a group of Unite Indy volunteers who teach a program called Jobs For Life to those who are soon to be released. Jobs For Life is a Biblically-based training curriculum that teaches an understanding of the worth of every individual, the importance of work, the attitudes and motivation necessary to gain and hold a job, as well as the most practical of experiences, including resume preparation, mock interviews, and direction from visiting business leaders.

Together, Jobs for Life and SecondChanceIndy.com are changing the face of our poorest urban neighborhoods.

Support of Ministries and Charities:
Since 2017 UNITE INDY has provided a free web-based system at UNITEINDY.org that connects churches, their time or gifts of money or needed items. UNITE INDY also provides the manpower necessary to assist smaller organizations--that have no one to upload needed items--the help they require to access this service. Through this portal, UNITE INDY has brought thousands of dollars worth of needed goods into the hands of those who assist the poor.

Serving the Servants:
UNITE INDY comes behind urban pastors and ministry leaders by addressing personal and professional needs with free services for those who work tirelessly in their neighborhoods to care for the needy and bereft.

Remember, almost 1 out of every 3 children in Indianapolis lives below the poverty level, yet even in the aftermath of the shut down, as our economy comes back to life and employment is returning, all this good news stops at the lines surrounding many of our inner city neighborhoods. In some neighborhoods of Marion County unemployment still exceeds 20%. and poverty remains the overwhelming divider of people.

Please send a check today to UNITE INDY, 241 W. 38th Street, Indianapolis, IN 46208. Or donate via credit card by clicking Here. It is secure and safe. By sending your fully tax deductible gift* now we can have a greater impact meeting needs in our community in 2021.

Many, many thanks!

*UNITE INDY, Inc. is approved under Internal Revenue Code (IRC) Section 501(c)(3) as a Public Charity, donors can deduct contributions they make under IRC Section 170.
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