INDIANAPOLIS – EmployIndy recently received $5.5 million from Lilly Endowment Inc. to sustain and improve EmployIndy’s Youth Employment System (YES) to address education and employment disparities for Opportunity Youth (youth and young adults between the ages of 16 and 24 who are not in school and not working) in Indianapolis.
The new $5.5 million Lilly Endowment grant will help Employ Indy strengthen its partnership with community-based organizations that are central to how YES Indy provides guidance and resources to low-income, out-of-school young adults in Marion County so they can set and reach their educational and employment goals.
In addition to supporting YES Indy network community organizations (see full list below) that directly provide youth services, EmployIndy will invest these grant funds into three key strategies to increase youth engagement with high-quality services: open an additional YES Indy Re-Engagement Center (REC) in the Martindale-Brightwood neighborhood; add two new YES Indy providers to the network; and increase wages for all YES Indy provider staff to establish a baseline for Good Wages across the network.
To deliver YES Indy services, EmployIndy selects community-based organizations through a competitive procurement process, including: Community Alliance of the Far Eastside (CAFE), Edna Martin Christian Center, Fathers and Families Center, Inc., Flanner House, Goodwill of Central and Southern Indiana (GCSI), Keys to Work, Martindale-Brightwood CDC, Mary Rigg Neighborhood Center, and PACE, Inc.