UNITE INDY'S Doug Evans (pictured below) and Scott Whiting ran the first Shelby County Jobs for Life (JfL) training session last week for a group of energized, involved women now living outside the Shelby County Jail but under the supervision of the county's Community Corrections. The reception from the class surpassed our team's expectations. JfL training encourages conversations about our journeys through life, the roadblocks we face, the importance of work, and how we are unconditionally loved by God. Breakout sessions were heartfelt, honest, and sprinkled with laughter and even tears.

UNITE INDY is part of a growing movement to end predatory lending which feeds on the most vulnerable in our society. High-cost, unaffordable forms of credit are marketed as lifelines to consumers and small businesses, but predatory products do not provide access to affordable credit. Instead, they lead to financial ruin by trapping borrowers in high-cost loans and devastating cycles of debt that leave them far worse off.

These lenders use exorbitant interest rates, fees, add-on products, and unaffordable balloon payments to line their pockets and keep even working families in poverty.

UNITE INDY is working with local groups to promote legislation in Indiana based on the PRINCIPLES FOR RESPONSIBLE CONSUMER AND SMALL BUSINESS LOANS TO PREVENT PREDATORY LENDING ABUSES, as put forth by the Consumer Federation of America. We will update you on these issues in newsletters to follow. To sign on to these principles, Click Here.

In some Central Indiana prisons and county jails, UNITE INDY is known for its army of caring correspondents. Word travels fast in an institution for the forgotten, where loneliness is a natural response to being separated from everyone you know. There are a lot of good souls who have made mistakes, and are simply hoping for someone to be a friend. Right now we have three new people who would love to have someone to connect with...Could it be you? If you can encourage and share small joys, this might just be the good work you have been waiting for. We'll connect you and provide you with all the help and direction you'll need. Many churches are starting teams of their own! For more information, email Sara, our Inmate Correspondent Team Leader, or check out this volunteer opportunity.

It’s a scary time in our country. We’ve cooked up a big old fear cocktail, made with a bottle of violence, a mixer of economic problems and a couple shots of distrust. Our nerves are jangled. In the past few years we’ve gone through a pandemic, where masked people fought battles over packages of Charmin as we got required injections, wore masks, and were quarantined in our homes.

Now we are seeing empty shelves, crazy high gas prices, and the highest inflation rates in 50 years. A friend told me his 401K is now only a 201K due to the declining stock market and he is very fearful. I could go on…The list of fears are endless, affecting different folks in different ways, but we’re all wondering where this will end. Read Nancy's blog post here!

Good Question! Corrections facilities that house high security inmates will not allow groups of mentors to come in to their secure settings. So, UNITE INDY mentors use technology. We use digital teaching--videos with a combination of teachers, and animated situations that allow students to learn at any time that is convenient for the student and the jail or prison facility. Mentors can be with them via computer tablets, or telephones and individual visits, to talk over the study material and encourage them. The study by The Lacy School of Business at Butler University, Understanding the Relationship between Criminal Record and On-the-job Performance, of which UNITE INDY was a sponsor, shows that these very people make good employees. Plus, getting a good job soon after release, studies show, can drop recidivism to between 3% and 8%. So great news all around!

UNITE INDY fights the root cause of poverty, which impacts some of the most pressing problems we face in our city, such as hunger, homelessness, and interrupted educational opportunities for children.

Our major focus is to assist the 12,000 inmates returning to Central Indiana after long-term jail sentences. UNITE INDY provides mentored job training inside the jail, and a website for those with a criminal record, SecondChanceIndy.com, filled with job openings offered by our Second Chance employer partners.

1. Volunteer to be a Champion (mentor). 

2. Volunteer to be a Prayer Team Leader. 

3. Become a Member - Your tax deductible gift will buy either 5 Student Workbooks for a class or 10 meals for students, their mentors, and instructors to gather around a table before each class, sharing food, transforming the moment into something more unique by creating a sense of community, which strengthens the relationship building process. 

A big Thank YOU to our Corporate Partners for their unwavering support which makes it possible for us to provide our services at no charge to job applicants and employers!

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