NEWS

NSP Community Input Sessions
Because of Mapleton-Fall Creek Development Corporation's planning effort that began last summer, the Mapleton-Fall Creek neighborhood was 1 of 6 to be selected for the City of Indianapolis' Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP). The NSP is a federal program created to address foreclosed and abandoned housing. MFCDC's NSP Team needs to hear from YOU to identify opportunities in the target area (click here for vision statement). Help us discover ways to improve the quality of life in the MFC target area. Come and find out how the NSP project can make a difference in your neighborhood!
Community Input Sessions:
Thursday, July 9 at 6:30pm at the Julia Carson Center (300 E Fall Creek Pkwy) part of the MFCNA meeting
Saturday, July 11 at 10:30am at Unleavened Bread Cafe (3001 N Central Ave)
Community Feedback Session: 
Wednesday, August 26 at 6:30pm at Broadway UMC (609 E 29th Street)
IMPORTANT: A team of architects and engineers from Schmidt Associates will be walking in the neighborhood to assess the public right-of-way and every building within the target area to identify potential projects for the NSP. This team will be in the neighborhood from 8am-3pm during the weekdays in June and July. Click here for flyer. Click here for summary on what NSP will do. Click here for NSP Proposal.

MFCDC Office Gets Some TLC!
Volunteers joined MFCDC staff in painting the CDC office over the weekend of June 13. Much was accomplished, even some time enjoying each others company over pizza! Big thanks to Wes, our Housing Intern, who coordinated the efforts! The office already looks better and cleaner! However, there is still work that needs to be done, so we hope our friends and supporters can join us again soon to finish the work that was started. Please start looking through your calendars for time that you may be able to pitch in. Contact Doressa if you can volunteer to help, intern@mfcdc.org.

MFCDC Executive Director Gives the Indianapolis Star a Tour of the Neighborhood and Discusses the Work of the CDC
Read article here.

Mapleton-Fall Creek Development Corporation is chosen as a partner for Neighborhood Stabilization Plan Funds
“We set out to determine which community partners were best suited to help us transform entire sections of the city by making the most significant, immediate and positive impact with these funds,” said Mayor Ballard.  “This is a great opportunity to bolster stabilization and revitalization efforts taking place throughout Indianapolis.” MFCDC will immediately begin a project development phase involving working with city staff and neighborhood stakeholders to address the following:  Acquisition/Land Bank, Acquisition/Rehabilitation, Acquisition/New Construction, Demolition, Rental Development, Financing Mechanisms, and Administration.Click here for the Mayor's Office Press Release.Click here for the MFCDC NSP proposal.

Senior Housing Group Hosted by Mapleton-Fall Creek Development Corporation
Many homeowners describe – with passion – their desire to stay in their home for as long as possible. MFCDC will bring outside experts to answer your questions in a summer series of conversations to celebrate and discuss homeowners’ desire to Stay Put.
Topics will include:
Contracts for Life – what legal decisions do we need to have covered?
Accessibility – what kinds of projects can make my home easier to get around in?
Reverse Mortgages – how do they work, and will they work for me?
Affording Repairs – what funding is available to help me make repairs?
Plus, other topics raised during our conversations.
The next meeting is on May 19 at Unleavened Bread Café (corner of 30th and Central) at 10:30am and will feature:
1)  Anita Hardin, Legal Ways to Preserve your Home
2) Billie Breaux, County Auditor, Reducing your Tax Liability
Lunch will be prepared for every meeting, suggested $5 donation
Save the dates for the rest of the events in this series: June 9, 23, July 14, 28. Click here for flyer.

Mapleton-Fall Creek Neighborhood Cleanup
Saturday, April 25, was the kickoff of the 33rd Annual Great Indy Cleanup. In the Mapleton-Fall Creek neighborhood there were five groups that put their feet to the pavement and rakes to the ground to rid our streets and alleys of litter. It was a full day of Spring Cleaning and so much was accomplished! Big thanks to all of the volunteers and clean up coordinators from all the neighborhood groups:
Mapleton-Fall Creek Development Corporation
Haywood Park Neighbors' Association
Historic Meridian Park Neighborhood Association
Mapleton-Fall Creek Neighborhood Association
Watson-McCord Neighborhood Association
Click here for photo slideshow!

MFCDC Annual Meeting
Our Annual Meeting was a huge success! On April 15, MFCDC hosted nearly 250 community parnters and residents at the Julia Carson Center in the Mapleton-Fall Creek neighborhood. We shared our progress and plans for the neighborhood and had an award ceremony for individuals and businesses who have make extraordinary contributions to our work. We'd like to thank our speakers, sponsors, volunteers, and partners! Please click here for a full summary on this very special event!

Easter at Constitution Gardens

Ever since Constitution Gardens opened in August of 2008, they have been hosting community activities. Recently the apartment community celebrated the Easter holiday. They had an Easter Egg painting party on Friday, April 10 and had more than 200 Eggs donated by area residents for the kids to color. On Saturday they hid 300+ eggs (hard boiled and plastic filled with candy) and had about 20 kids running around finding them. Take a look at the event slideshow here.

Obama Day of Service in Mapleton-Fall Creek

In honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., President Obama asked that community members organize a day of service in their neighborhoods on MLK Jr. Day, January 19. Thanks to the wonderful coordinating efforts of Kathy Davis, and the generous donation of time and effort by volunteers, the Mapleton-Fall Creek neighborhood was one of thousands of locations across the U.S. that were the focus of community service events. The service event in Mapleton-Fall Creek was to clean and paint MFCDC apartments that will be rented to low-income families.

The Children's Museum 10th Annual Holiday Party

MFCDC, along with friends, family, and neighbors, celebrated the season at The Children’s Museum’s 10th Annual Neighborhood Holiday Party on December 11. Everyone, young and old, enjoyed trips down the Yule slide and took pictures with Santa and Mrs. Claus in the Jolly Days Winter Wonderland gallery. There were free food and refreshments, live music, raffles, activity stations, and booths with organizations, such as MFCDC, providing information on health, wealth, and education resources in our area! In addition to children being able to play in many of the galleries, there was a special presentation of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe in the Lilly Theatre. The event was a great opportunity to spend time with neighbors as well as make new friends. A wonderful time was had by all!
Don't forget: All Mapleton-Fall Creek residents are eligible for free memberships to The Children’s Museum through the 30/34 Membership program! Come into the MFCDC office (130 E 30th Street) for a 30/34 membership application.


MFCDC Hosts Open House and Tour for City of Indianapolis' Green HOME Program Pilot Homes

MFCDC invited anyone and everyone interested in Green Construction, Affordable Housing and Neighborhood Revitalization to take a look Behind the Walls of the first new homes built as part of the City of Indianapolis’ Green HOME Program. The goal of the Green HOME Program is to produce high-quality affordable homes that are energy efficient, healthy, and durable. In partnership with the City of Indianapolis' Department of Metropolitan Development, Carley Custom Homes, and hundredyear, MFCDC provided a pre-completion tour demonstrating the Green construction practices and features before many of them got covered up. The tours took and took place on November 25 and December 1 at 2838 N Washington Blvd. There is a second pilot home in Mapleton-Fall Creek located at 2830 N Delaware Street, both homes are scheduled to be completed in January and are for sale!
Green HOME Tour Press Release
Green HOME Tour Guide
Link to Inside Indiana Business Coverage
Green HOME Sign

Backyard Conservation Workshop

On November 12, 2008, MFCDC hosted a Backyard Conservation Workshop in partnership with the Marion County Soil and Water Conservation District (MCS&WCD). We are hoping to more of these types of workshops geared toward conservation and protecting the environment and wildlife in the future! We'd like to thank Ron Lauster of the Marion County Soil and Water Conservation District and Heather Buck of Chris Burke Engineering (both are also representatives of the Lower Fall Creek Alliance) for their instruction on making rain barrels and for providing information on conservation for attendees to take home and read. Also, big “thanks” to Michelle Conyer with Indy Parks, and Ben Reinhart with the Indiana Wildlife Federation for making great presentations on wildlife habitats. We'd also like to thank Broadway United Methodist Church and Eden In Indianapolis for providing such a great working space, Double 8 for supplying refreshments and snacks for the event, and ACE Hardware who made several discounts available to us for our rain barrels, including one free quart of paint and buy one get one free cinder blocks. We are all now armed with knowledge and tools to start improving your backyard habitat and by doing so, we will improve our neighborhood, city, and nearby waterways! To learn more about rain barrels click here.

MFCDC is awarded Trinity Grant
Trinity Episcopal Church gave MFCDC a grant of $5,500 to conduct a study on the history and experiences of our rental properties to better understand property management and how to improve it for future success.

Coming Soon!
The CDC is working on several projects including the development of Senior Housing, a commercial project at Central Ave and Fall Creek, and the eventual development of more commercial/live work units like those built at 25th and Delaware.

MFCDC will be holding several fundraising events aimed at raising funds to match a Façade Grant from the City of Indianapolis.

MFCDC will be hosting several Community Forums, in which neighbors participate in round table discussions about the future of the neighborhood. We are eager to hear your ideas and input about making positive changes in the Mapleton-Fall Creek area. All neighbors are welcome! Food and beverages will be provided at each meeting. Visit our calendar for upcoming dates.