VICTORY:

Indianapolis Mayor Hogsett vows to crisis response, data transparency, at Fund Our Futures Summit

Nearly 300 community leaders came together at the Fund Our Futures Summit earlier this month to secure commitments from Indianapolis Mayor Hogsett and promote the Fund Our Future Agenda, which includes:

1. a 30% drop in gun related murders and shootings by June of 2023 
2. a robust crisis response continuum from call to care, and 
3. reform our law enforcement agencies to be culturally effective and accountable to the communities they serve.

Thanks to the hard work of Faith in Indiana’s  Black Church Coalition, Mayor Hogsett affirmed his continued commitment to work with Faith in Indiana leaders toward these goals, and vowed to include funds in the 2023 budget to launch the city’s first-ever clinician-led mobile crisis team next year.

PROGRESS:

Indianapolis General Orders Board Pushes for Reform

This month, Indianapolis’s new civilian-led General Orders Board – which sets law enforcement policy in Indianapolis – celebrates its first 100 days with multiple long overdue police reforms. These reforms are designed to ensure law enforcement is accountable to the communities they serve.

Last year, Faith in Indiana pushed to add civilians to the General Orders Board in the wake of the murders of George Floyd, Dreasjon Reed, McHale Rose and so many others. Thanks to the hard work of faith and community leaders across Indianapolis, the board is now majority civilian and people of color, and has ushered in a new progressive discipline policy, made revisions to the use of force policy, and put an end to car and foot pursuits by IMPD officers, and there is more to come!

VICTORY:

Faith in St. Joseph County wins housing, crisis intervention, and more

Faith in Indiana leaders in St. Joseph County have racked up an impressive series of wins in the past few months which will have an innumerable impact on the lives of tens of thousands of people across the county. In December, leaders successfully worked to secure $3 million in American Rescue Plan funding for a crisis response center that will ensure residents of the county who are experiencing mental health crises receive help, not  handcuffs. The funds had previously – and egregiously – been vetoed by three  county commissioners.

Then, earlier this month, Faith in St. Joseph County leaders helped secure an additional $1.6 million in grant funding for a housing program for unhoused people also voted down by the same three county commissioners. New funds  will extend the Motels4Now program for another year by paying for motel room fees, staffing and other costs for the Our Lady of the Road charity.

Their numerous victories confirm what we all know: together, WE make Indiana, and we won’t let a handful of elected leaders play politics with our health.

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UPDATE:

New Muslim Organizing Project aims to reimagine public safety

In February, Faith in Indiana teamed up with the Indiana Muslim Advocacy Network to launch the Muslim Organizing Project, which aims to develop Muslim leadership to build a more just and equitable Indiana.

Over the last 3 months, over 50 Muslims from Indianapolis’ four most prominent mosques have engaged in listening sessions and meetings with public officials. A top priority is ensuring law enforcement is trained to be culturally effective and accountable to our community. In a recent meeting with Prosecutor Ryan Mears, he committed to train over 400 prosecutors on cultural competency int he Muslim community, and extended the invitation to IMPD.

PROGRESS:

#WeMakeIN listens to our neighbors

On February 2, our partners at Act Indiana celebrated the launch of #WeMakeIN Campaign. Over 250 Black people, women, and young people who attended our Faith in Democracy Trainings stepped up to run for precinct captain, a critical role which appoints officials to vacant seats and determines who gets party endorsements for state and local office.

This cohort makes up 25% of the candidates statewide and is already getting to work listening to their neighbors, learn more at ActIndiana.org

GET INVOLVED:

UPCOMING EVENTS

VICTORY:

Faith in Indiana honored by Aicher Award for Leadership in Democracy

In January, Faith in Indiana was awarded the Paul and Joyce Aicher Leadership in Democracy Award along with a $10,000 grant. Faith in Indiana was nominated in recognition of our innovative work together to change law enforcement and criminal justice practices in Indianapolis, which has shifted the public discourse in the area to focus on root causes and community-based interventions. Faith in Indiana envisions our organizing work, which intentionally engages “those left out of the public conversation,” as “a strategy to help people who might otherwise be silent claim their public voice.”

Over the past three decades, the Aichers’ generosity, spirit of innovation, and commitment to justice have fueled Everyday Democracy’s work in over 600 communities across the United States. Their core values – voice for all, connection across difference, racial equity, and community change – aligns with Faith in Indiana’s core values and we are deeply grateful for their support of the important work we are all doing together.

WHAT WE'RE READING:

Prophetic Resistance Podcast

Hosted by Rev. Michael-Ray Mathews and grounded in our diverse faith traditions, the Prophetic Resistance Podcast explores what it means to embody love in the face of fear, to show up like hope in seasons of despair, to stand ready to be light in the darkness and water in a parched land.

Their most recent episode features one of Faith in Indiana's own, Dr. Leah Gunning Francis. Dr. Gunning Francis was at the Eden Theological Seminary in St. Louis when Michael Brown was killed by police in Ferguson, Missouri. Following that tragedy and the uprising it sparked, Dr. Gunning Francis interviewed more than two dozen clergy and young activists involved in the movement for racial justice and beyond. In 2015, she compiled the interviews – and the learnings she took from them – into the book Ferguson and Faith: Sparking Leadership and Awakening Community.

Now, she is back with a new book, Faith After Ferguson: Resilient Leadership in Pursuit of Racial Justice, in which Dr. Gunning Francis revisits the clergy and activists from the front lines of Ferguson to hear what they’ve learned in the struggle for justice. And she was generous enough to share what she learned with listeners of the Prophetic Resistance Podcast.

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