How IF Is Supporting Indy through What Comes Next
By Ahmed Young
A community reveals its strength in moments of crisis. Severe flooding across Indianapolis has damaged homes, disrupted lives, and created urgent needs for families and first responders. For those affected, help cannot wait.
But recovery will not end when the water recedes. Our neighbors will need support in the weeks and months ahead as they rebuild their homes and regain stability.
That is why we launched the Indianapolis Flood Relief Fund. Gifts to the fund will support local organizations helping people affected by the flooding, meeting urgent needs, and supporting recovery in the weeks and months ahead.
For more than 110 years, the Indianapolis Foundation has helped people turn their love for this city into lasting impact. That requires us to be nimble enough to move resources where they are needed now and patient enough to support the work that follows.
Community foundations are uniquely positioned to respond to crises like these because our work is grounded in trust. We rely on community partners who understand where needs are greatest, funders who are prepared to invest and co-invest, and nonprofit leaders with the experience to put resources to work effectively.
These relationships are built over time. They allow us to act quickly while staying accountable to the people and communities most affected.
Our focus on Indianapolis is also a source of strength. We are rooted here, which means we listen to residents, work alongside organizations across the city, and remain attentive to how needs intersect. A damaged home can deepen existing housing instability. Missed work can threaten a family’s financial security. A flooded community center can interrupt services that neighbors depend on.
Sometimes our role is to lead. Sometimes it is to support. Often, it is to connect people, ideas, and investments around a shared purpose.
The flooding facing our city is the most urgent need before us today. It also underscores a larger truth: Community needs do not wait for a planning cycle, and philanthropy can’t either. We must be ready to address immediate hardship without losing sight of the long-term work required to build a stronger, more equitable Indianapolis.
Our city is strongest when neighbors stand together. Every gift to the Indianapolis Flood Relief Fund is one way to help Indianapolis rebuild and recover, and to remind those affected that they will not face the road ahead alone.