INDIANAPOLIS — One local organization is helping to build a better Indianapolis one family at a time. The project focuses on making housing around the city more affordable.
Pastor Anthony Murdock, of Eastern Star Church, said they can do it with the help of a grant from the Indianapolis African American Quality of Life Initiative.
The initiative is a partnership between the Lilly Endowment and National Urban League. The goal is to address issues plaguing the Black community, such as health, employment, education and housing.
"We've got major systemic challenges that we have to address in this community,” said Anthony Mason, president of the Indianapolis Urban League. “All too often, organizations who are working at the grass tops and grassroots to address these issues do not have the resources.”
Eastern Star Church received $1 million in grant funding last year.
Since then, construction crews have been working in the Arlington Woods neighborhood, building new affordable houses on a lot that was once vacant.
Two new houses are completed, and families have moved in. Five are under construction, and there are plans for three more.
"It's a great blessing to be able to be a part ... to be a servant in this process of serving God with our gifts and talents to be able to see lives change," Murdock said.
The Indianapolis Urban League just announced its third round of recipients. So far, a total of $21 million has been invested in the community with projects that will focus on the initiative.