City of Indianapolis and IFF announce new Thriving Nonprofits cohort to support building upgrades, energy efficiency.
The Indianapolis Office of Sustainability and Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) IFF announced the 12 organizations selected to participate in the second cohort of the Thriving Nonprofits initiative on June 16.
The local initiative is intended to help Marion County nonprofits increase energy efficiency in their facilities, reduce operating costs and cultivate the environmental resilience needed to ensure they remain as long-term community anchors.
“Strengthening our city requires bringing community partners together to tackle shared challenges, and we are incredibly proud to welcome this second cohort of organizations to participate in Thriving Nonprofits,” said Mo McReynolds, director of the Indianapolis Office of Sustainability. “By expanding this initiative, we are helping neighborhood anchors upgrade their physical spaces, which builds localized resilience and ensures our community infrastructure is better equipped for the future.”
Funded by the McKinney Family Foundation and the Indianapolis Foundation, Thriving Nonprofits provides each cohort member with a facility assessment to identify opportunities to improve energy efficiency and a matching grant of up to $10,000 to execute efficiency-boosting building upgrades.
By lowering their monthly utility bills, participating organizations can redirect cost savings directly into frontline community services and programming.
Organizations selected to participate in the second Thriving Nonprofits cohort include:
- Dathouse, Inc.
- FaithCares Community Food Pantry
- Gennesaret Free Clinics
- Groundwork Indy
- IF Theatre
- Indiana Interchurch Center
- Indianapolis Cultural Trail, Inc.
- Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra
- IYG, Inc.
- Scott United Methodist Church
- Stop the Violence Indianapolis, Inc.
- Trinity Haven
Energy assessments of cohort members’ facilities will be conducted by IFF’s Real Estate Solutions team and include a walk-through of the cohort member’s facility to examine features like exterior walls, roofs, windows and doors.
Interior elements, appliances, heating and cooling systems, light fixtures, and more will also be examined to pinpoint opportunities for upgrades or replacements to increase energy efficiency.
These findings will be coupled with an analysis of utility bills and external factors like local weather and seasonal patterns to develop a detailed report overviewing opportunities to improve the energy efficiency of the facility.
Cohort members will also receive recommendations about which building upgrades to complete in the short- and long-term based on estimated cost and complexity.
“Every dollar a nonprofit spends keeping the lights on or repairing an inefficient heating system is a dollar that could be used to advance its mission,” said Donna Sink, IFF’s senior owner’s representative. “By identifying clear avenues for energy-efficient building improvements and providing the capital to make them a reality, Thriving Nonprofits is helping mission-driven organizations devote more of their resources to supporting local residents and strengthening communities across Marion County.”
For more information, visit indy.gov/activity/thriving-nonprofits.
Contact Staff Writer Malik Simon at 317-762-7847.
Malik Simon is a Staff Writer for the Indianapolis Recorder Newspaper. Originally from Memphis, TN, he graduated from Mississippi Valley State University with a Bachelor of Arts in General Studies concentrating on journalism. Before joining the Recorder, he wrote for the Devil’s Gazette newspaper at MVSU and served as a freelance content and video editor. He seeks to use media to help communities flourish through literacy and factual reporting.
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