Lt. Gov. Crouch, IHCDA announce changes to “My Community, My Vision” initiative

Community planning program coaches high school student groups to enhance development and quality of life in their home communities

Indianapolis (Aug. 23, 2022) – Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch and the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority (IHCDA) today announced the revamp to the My Community, My Vision (MCMV) program, which connects high school students across Indiana to each other and to their neighborhoods, towns, and cities.

“Maintaining strong and viable communities is important to the future of Indiana, and we need future leaders to begin thinking about their own vision for their city or town,” said Crouch. “My Community, My Vision invites these future decision makers to share their ideas and plans with local officials.  By their involvement, student leaders will learn about the planning process and the collaborative efforts required to create an even more vibrant community.”   

In collaboration with the Indiana Philanthropy Alliance (IPA) Youth Council program and the Association of Indiana Municipalities (AIM) Mayoral Youth Council program, five selected cohorts of students across the state will participate in four months of workshops, planning, and fundraising for a place-based community project they would like to see come to life in their town or city. Utilizing the features of IHCDA's crowd-granting CreatINg Places program, students who successfully strategize, plan, and raise a fundraising goal of between $5,000 and $50,000 towards their community project will receive a matched grant from IHCDA.

High school youth council groups, alongside their foundation or local unit of government sponsor, will work throughout the semester to determine a project, craft a budget, develop a fundraising goal and strategy, and raise the needed funds for all materials during a thirty-day fundraising campaign. Throughout the semester, students will be required to participate in three in-person workshops hosted by IHCDA, where they will learn about place-based community development, project planning, fundraising strategies, and stakeholder engagement. Each workshop will prepare students to brainstorm and reach their project goal, as well as provide networking and leadership opportunities. In the final workshop, students will present their work and success to their peers and Indiana's community development leaders.

Local units of government and community foundations interested in having their AIM or IPA youth council participate in the My Community, My Vision program should apply to IHCDA. The full application, including checklist of additional documents, is now available on the IHCDA website at https://www.in.gov/ihcda/placemaking-indiana/my-community-my-vision/. Applications are due to IHCDA Nov. 7, 2022 with selected teams to be announced Nov. 30, 2022. The selected teams will officially kick off with a workshop event on Jan. 21, 2023.