Vote for winner of innovation grant to help Indy kids

We asked for innovative proposals to help children in Central Indiana, and community nonprofits delivered.

Sixty-two agencies submitted proposals for consideration in The Star's Our Children/Our City Innovation Grant program. Two winners will receive up to $25,000 from the 2014 Our Children/Our City and Season for Sharing fundraising campaign.

We narrowed the field to five nominees. The Star's Community Engagement Committee will select one winner, and we are asking you — our readers — to select the other.

Following are brief descriptions of the five agencies and their proposals. Cast your vote by May 3; winners will be announced the following week.

•Concord Neighborhood Center , 1310 S. Meridian St., is the oldest and longest-running neighborhood center in Indianapolis. It's a one-stop source for social services, children's programs, educational opportunities, health and fitness information and recreational activities.

Its innovation grant proposal is titled Brick By Brick: A Vocational and Technical Training Approach to Youth Development.

The estimated cost of the program is $64,000, and the center has secured $17,000.

The Our Children/Our City grant would support the implementation and management of an intensive vocational and technical career program for youth ages 10 to 13. Through the Old Southside Neighborhood Association and Riley Area Development Corp., youth will learn skills through construction projects on local houses. They would take weekly classes and receive access to academic planning assistance.

•Marion County Commission on Youth (MCCOY), 3901 N. Meridian St., was established as an independent not-for-profit in 1993. Its volunteer board of directors, which includes local youth, focuses on young people achieving economic self-sufficiency and healthy relationships.

An Our Children/Our City grant would be used to recruit, train and support a group of 20 high school youth to become civically engaged leaders. In addition, Youth Empowerment Team members will plan and implement group sessions at MCCOY's annual Youth Forum called #We'reJustSayin.

MCCOY estimates a cost of $26,608 for the program, half of which has been secured.

•Peace Learning Center, 6040 Delong Road, works directly with schools, community nonprofits, businesses, juvenile correctional facilities and faith groups to present peace-education programs. Founded in 1997, it is housed in Eagle Creek Park at the former home of J.K. Lilly.

If awarded, the grant would help support the One Indy project, designed in partnership with Indianapolis Public Schools and the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department to serve students in six neighborhoods identified by the mayor's office as high-crime areas.

The One Indy project would connect schools, parents and community members; educate peacemakers; and reinforce schools as welcoming community places to create a more peaceful city.

The agency has secured $114,505 of the $293,800 estimated cost of the project and is awaiting word on other grants.

•Pro 100 (TeenWorks), 2820 N. Meridian St., was inspired by philanthropist Gene B. Glick in 1981. The idea — to provide teens with a summer job that would teach them the importance of self-discipline, a hard day's work and giving back to the community.

TeenWorks' Summer Employment and College Readiness Program combines paid employment, classroom training and civic engagement opportunities for six weeks every summer. The program would be expanded to serve 270 Indianapolis teens this year, a 29 percent increase from 2014. Additionally, two program tracks would be offered: one for rookies and one for veterans.

The proposed cost is just more than $1 million, but $975,554 in funding has been secured.

•YMCA of Greater Indianapolis operates the Intercollegiate YMCA Center, which serves children and families who live in Section 8 public housing.

For 11 years, it has provided programming to nearly half of the 500 children who live in the Laurelwood Apartments on the Near Southside, including a full-time, after-school program.

Now, with support from university students, Indianapolis Housing Agency and IndyParks, the Y wants to take the Laurelwood model and expand it into four other complexes: Rowney Terrace, Concord, Blackburn Terrace and Twin Hills Apartments.

The estimated cost of the expansion is $66,750, of which $15,000 has been secured through other funding.

Call Star reporter Maureen Gilmer at (317) 444-6879. Follow her on Twitter: @MaureenCGilmer.