Description: The Indianapolis Neighborhood Resource Center (INRC) started its study circle journey in 2000 with "Making Connections," a multi-year initiative funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation aimed at strengthening families in urban neighborhoods with on-going, difficult issues. Over the years, INRC's work has evolved beyond the initiative to offer study circles on a number of public issues, including neighborhoods, youth, visioning, education, violence, racism, and poverty to residents across the city of Indianapolis as well as in the two Making Connections neighborhoods. To date, INRC has provided support to 140 study circles, which have engaged nearly 1,300 people. Study circle efforts have led to a revived resident council in a public housing complex, a new collaboration between a church and public school corporation, increased resident engagement in neighborhood issues, and more.

Dates active: 2000-present

Web-site for project: http://www.inrc.org

Issue(s): Human rights or race relations; Youth issues and youth development; Law enforcement or crime prevention; Planning and land use

Sub-issue(s): neighborhoods, families, youth, violence, racism, poverty, visioning

Level(s): Neighborhood; city

Initiators: Annie E. Casey Foundation (and The Indianapolis Foundation, a CICF Affiliate).

Particular goals:

• Neighborhood and Community Connections
• Participants will:
  • connect and collaborate with others in addressing neighborhood issues
  • increase their awareness of opportunities for skill development and engagement opportunities within their neighborhoods
  • increase connection to local support networks as a result of meeting their neighbors
  • access information about support systems in their neighborhood and community
  • become empowered to develop and implement actions to strengthen their communities
  • assume leadership responsibility in their communities including:
    • initiating actions to improve neighborhoods;
    • active service in existing efforts to strengthen families or build community;
    • participation in leadership advancement capacity building; or,
    • assuming a formal leadership role in a community or faith-based organization.
• Study Circles will:
  • foster collaboration between residents and local service providers, churches, and other neighborhood-based organizations to address neighborhood opportunities
  • provide information to funders, city officials, and social service providers about grassroots, common-sense solutions for keeping neighborhoods and communities strong.

Number of participants/year: Approx. 1,294

Population of community: 860,454

Time spent by participants: Varied depending on the circle in which they were involved and the action items developed by the circle. Most participants spen

Staffing/funding: A lead staff person works with INRC's four Neighborhood Development Specialists providing oversight and support to successfully implement study circles throughout the community. Neighborhood Development Specialists work with study circle hosts in their neighborhoods to provide support and follow-up after circle dialogue to ensure continuation and implementation of action ideas. In addition, INRC's Evaluation and Documentation Manager works to ensure that outcomes and stories of circles are documented and shared and continue to be linked to INRC's community building work across the city.
Additionally, in 2007, INRC staff is providing intensive training and technical assistance to a Study Circles Coordinator in both of the Making Connections neighborhoods to localize and institutionalize study circles in both of the Making Connections neighborhoods.
Funding sources including the Annie E. Casey Foundation and The Indianapolis Foundation, a CICF Affiliate.

Budget: Annual Budget in 2007 is approximately $70,000. This amount does not include mini-grants which study circle hosts can receive to help implement action items ensuing from study circle discussions.

How meetings were structured: Each circle is led by a facilitator and co-facilitator (youth and adults). For every circle, there are 4 dialogue sessions, an action forum planning session, and an action forum.

Sample outcomes:

• Youth identified through mapping affordable and free youth programs for high school age.
• A church collaborated with a local community center to conduct a National Night Out event for the neighborhood.
• Two neighborhood associations whose members had not worked together before participating in the study circle hosted a Youth Summit attended by over 200 teenagers.
• A circle participant developed a call sheet for residents on her block to use when calling for assistance or reporting a problem with the City of Indianapolis: Department of Public Works and Department of Metropolitan Development; Health and Hospital; Animal Control, etc. so that the group could communicate better, be more effective in their efforts, and document their reporting. The sheet included instructions on how to make the call, what to ask, and what to document, etc.
• Ten senior citizens connected with local university students for assistance in their home.
• Parents involved in an education circle created a communication network and sent a representative to meet with the superintendent to express their concerns and ideas for improvement.
• Youth working with the Church and Neighborhood Committee of the Greater Indianapolis Church Federation and connecting with their neighborhood groups.
• Over fifteen former Study Circle participants have enrolled and actively participating in the Indianapolis Community Building Institute.
• The creation of the Civic Revival Taskforce, a collaboration comprised of three neighborhood associations as well as state and local government stakeholders, birthed out of a series of study circles focused on public safety. During the past year, the taskforce held a senior safety forum attended by over 300 people, formed a youth baseball team, hosted workshops on diabetes and public safety awareness, and formed a Housing Committee for abandoned houses. In addition it hosted a gala for residents highlighting the neighborhood history and accomplished a local block club initiative with the support of the City Wide Crime Watch Coordinator.

Benefits: "Study Circles are among the tools Indianapolis Neighborhood Resource Center uses in its work with neighborhoods to help residents identify and build upon their community's assets," says Amy Tompkins, neighborhood development specialist at INRC. "Study circles have helped people become involved in their neighborhoods and empowered them to create change."

Challenges:

• Moving people from the dialogue to taking action.
• Maintaining momentum in the action phase of study circles.
• Funding sustainability
• Helping neighborhoods learn how to creatively leverage their project funding.
• Making the most of INRC's Study Circle Advisory Council (made up of past facilitators and participants, and partners)
• Having the capacity to work with more neighborhoods interested in hosting study circles
• Continued engagement of study circle alumni

Mistake one shouldn't repeat: Earlier in our work, we missed the opportunity to engage some of our neighborhoods in the full study circle process, which involves moving people from dialogue to taking action on ideas generated in the discussions. Many of these neighborhoods stalled at the dialogue phase of the process. We also didn't take advantage of connecting neighborhoods involved in study circles in other initiatives sponsored by INRC and other partners as well as we could have.

Full story:

• Fanselow, Julie, "Neighborhoods and people of faith power dialogue and action in Indianapolis," http://www.studycircles.org/Article.579.aspx.
• Mengual, Gloria F., "'Family Circles' build vital neighborhoods in Indianapolis," http://www.studycircles.org/en/Article.140.aspx
• Fanselow, Julie, "A new vision of community: Michael Morris," http://www.studycircles.org/en/Article.323.aspx

Related resources:

• "Great Indy Neighborhoods Initiative: Helping communities become better," http://www.studycircles.org and http://www.greatindyneighborhoods.org.

Organizations that helped with this project: http://www.studycircles.org

This case contributed by: Study Circles Resource Center