April 2019

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The Crooked Creek Community. Development Corporation is focusing on the human component of Community Development.  The role of the CCCDC is to improve the quality of life of the area's residents.  We understand that many neighbors are disconnected from the community.  For neighbors who are not satisfied with their economic, health, or social situation, this disconnect is a major barrier.  We aim to help neighbors increase their social capital while leveraging their existing assets.

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Our unique tactic is to focus on increasing social capital: one's connections to others such as a bigger network, broader network, more productive network.  Think of yourself or you child needing a job.  The bigger, broader, and more productive your network, the better the opportunity to get a satisfying job.  Increasing one's social capital increases OPPORTUNITY.  

 

Another key to our work is the approach known as Asset-Based Community Development.  What we do is not to look only at our neighbors' needs or deficits, but rather identify their asses (gifts, talents, passion) and leverage what they already possess.  Recognizing encouraging and investing in tase gifts pays dividends for any specific neighbor AND also for the community.

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Increasing Social Capital is positively correlated to mortality and other specific health issues.

Indy Vitals also shows significant health deficits of the Crooked Creek Community:  22% of Families do not have Health Insurance and in only 47% of births did the mother have prenatal care in the first trimester.    

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We do this via a two pronged approach:

• Community School Partnership:  The Crooked Creek CDC works with a new school in Washington Township – Willow Lake Elementary School.  We will play two roles.  One is to help families increase their social capital and leverage their existing gift and talents.  Another role is to establish and manage extra-curricular to further develop students who may not have access to ample developmental experiences.

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• Relationship Building in Apartment Communities.   The large majority of economically challenged families in Crooked Creek live in a densely populated area of apartment communities where disconnection from the broader community appears common.  We will apply the same approach to social capital and leveraging gifts and talents of our neighbors.

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We already see quality of life increasing for our neighbors.   This is life changing work.   We expect to see increases in income and health for families we encounter along this journey.