With renovations recently completed on a two-bedroom, 1-bathroom home in Martindale-Brightwood, a neighborhood on Indianapolis’ Eastside, another family has the opportunity to get closer to one of the most heralded symbols of the American Dream: home ownership.

The house located on Manlove Avenue was completely gutted before being furnished with quality finishes and appliances, said Steven Meyer, CEO of Renew Indianapolis, which rehabbed the house — one of 20 affordable housing projects it will rebuild or rehab near Douglass Park in the Martindale-Brightwood neighborhood during the next three years.

“Our philosophy around affordable housing is that you shouldn’t be able to tell the difference between one of these houses or any other house,” Meyer said. “Whoever ends up in this home will not have to face constant problems with maintenance.”

The Manlove Avenue house also is symbolic of the massive challenges Indianapolis, like many other cities, is facing in producing enough affordable housing to accommodate increasing demand. With the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention moratorium on evictions expiring on Aug. 1, 2021, Meyer and other nonprofit leaders and city officials fear that Indianapolis will face a potential eviction crisis.

“One of the most difficult challenges facing frontline organizations is that the moratorium is lifting for everyone at the same time,” said Aaron Laramore, senior program officer for the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) Indianapolis, an organization that collaborates with residents, organizations, businesses and government officials to revitalize urban communities.

“It’s going to put a lot of pressure on affordable housing demand in Indianapolis,” Laramore added. “How many people are going to be evicted by their landlord once the moratorium is lifted? It will likely be a significant number, which will present a significant challenge for every frontline organization providing emergency needs for people. It may not happen immediately, but the process will start.”

Meyer also said that foreclosures and evictions could make hard hit neighborhoods more vulnerable, as they did with the Great Recession, “The need for affordable housing — affordable housing preservation — is at its highest level ever,” Meyer said. “During the great recession, we saw the neighborhoods hardest hit lose 20 percent of their homeowners. Currently, new affordable housing programs can’t keep up with demand.”

According to recent statistics:

In the for-profit world, the term “merger” has a negative connotation, conjuring up thoughts of hostile corporate takeovers and big layoffs, but in the nonprofit world, it’s a different story.

In the last year, we’ve seen nonprofits come together in ways that actually helped them better serve the community. In fact, a recent study that analyzed 25 nonprofit mergers found that 88% of nonprofits that merged felt they were better at achieving organizational goals and increasing their impact after the merger.

So how do you know if a merger might be a good step for your nonprofit? Let’s walk through a few scenarios that a merger could help bring positive change.

Let’s say two nonprofits who were looking to merge served similar populations, but they had footholds in different counties. For them, merging would allow them to serve both service areas, while shrinking their administrative costs by having one set of administrative costs and staff instead of two. They can also save time and resources by completing one 990, one annual report, etc. instead of two. Merging back offices can allow you to shrink overhead, while still gaining the new insights, programs, or expertise of the other nonprofit. By bringing the programs and expertise of both nonprofits together, you get the best of both organizations.

In some cases, it’s time to close a nonprofit’s doors for good. But merging with another nonprofit can ensure the assets and property of the dissolving organization can still be used for a great cause. Dissolving nonprofits provide their assets to another nonprofit, regardless of if they merge or not, but the merger context can allow them to transfer all assets and debts-- like a mortgage on a property-- so the remaining organization can use that for charitable purposes.

3. You have a smaller nonprofit that would greatly benefit from having the resources of a larger nonprofit OR You have a larger nonprofit that would benefit from a specialized program or expertise a smaller nonprofit has already.

When a smaller nonprofit is looking to merge with a larger organization, it can provide great value to both parties. One example would be a large youth-serving organization merging with a smaller youth-serving organization that provides a program the larger organization hasn’t offered previously.

Indy Hunger Network is looking for remote volunteers for Community Compass, a free, multi-channel technology tool that helps users find free food resources near them. As Community Compass expands throughout Indiana, volunteers are needed to verify site data by calling food pantries and meal sites. Contact communitycompass@indyhunger.org

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is hosting its annual fundraising opportunity at the Brickyard on Aug. 14 and 15. Nonprofit organizations have the opportunity to raise funds in exchange for providing guest service volunteers during its major events. Donation rate is $100 per volunteer, per day. For more information, call 317-492-6684, email guestexperience@brickyard.com or visit the website

Concession volunteers needed at The Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Aug. 14-15. Volunteers receive a percentage of sales.  Learn more

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