Pandemics & Community Wealth: 4 Stories of Resilience

“We can, Each of us, Do the impossible As long as we can convince ourselves That it has been done before.” – Earthseed: The Books of the Living, Octavia Butler Race, class, patriarchy and capitalism are the primary driving social & economic forces today. These forces shape and define inequitable resource distribution, power and all aspects of our social constructs. …

7 Steps to Community Social Innovation

“Chaos is another word for opportunity.” – I Ching The buzz words just keep coming.  Inclusive Growth Race and Equity Sustainability Social Determinants of Health And of course last, but not least – social innovation. While I understand the importance of words to capture and focus our efforts, I’m challenged by the fact that often these concepts are primarily shaped …

Early Childhood Education: Strategies for Combatting the Ills of Urban Education

by Kahlil Mwaafrika Often referred to as “daycare,” Early Childhood Education has the potential to close the achievement and developmental gap between inner city children and affluence.  To avoid overstatement, there is a plethora of documented research, specifically the High Scope Perry Preschool Project and the  Heckman Study , that validate the assertion. For us laymen, I have composed a …

July 2017 CCFI Food Shares and Recipes

Tomorrow is the monthly Community Controlled Food Initiative (CCFI) food pick up and Good Food Feast. We will be gathering at Kheprw Institute, on July 8th from 3-5pm, as we do every Second Saturday of the month – sharing food and building our community program. Usually, you don’t find out what is in your bag of goodies until you arrive, but we are …

Losers and Winners of IPS School Closings

In April, 2017 IPS announced the possible closing of 3 High Schools. An open community meeting to discuss the issue, not sponsored by IPS, will be held on June 5th at 6 pm at the Purpose of Life Ministries at 3705 W Kessler Blvd North Drive, at the corner of 38th and Kessler. This meeting is sponsored by Concerned Clergy, …

Get Ready for eSTEAM!

Summer in the near northwest side community is marked by the scents of charcoal and fresh cut grass, screams and laughs from children freshly out of school, and beads of sweat from the intense heat. These simple staples of summer passed me by on my daily route to and from the Kheprw Institute’s eSTEAM camp last summer, where eager children …

Indianapolis Equity Profile from PolicyLink

Presentation created by Alexis Stephens, Senior Communications Associate at PolicyLink. Presented at Kheprw Institute on September 25, 2016 at Gentrify: Equitable Development vs. Economic Development.

Chalkbeat Indiana Distorts the Truth About IPS Board Election Campaign Funding

Jim Scheurich, Indianapolis citizen & IUPUI university professor On Friday, October 28th, the Recorder published an article by McCoy of Chalkbeat Indiana called, “Out-of-state money seems to be skipping the IPS board race.” Community activists have repeatedly made the point that major money from wealthy individuals and organizations from outside Indiana has poured into the IPS board election.  These activists …