By Heather Williams—
MUNCIE, IN – As the Muncie Action Plan (MAP) closes out the year, we would like to share MAP’s efforts to improve quality of life in Muncie and Delaware County as we approach our Annual Community Meeting on Wednesday, January 31st at 6:00 p.m. The public is invited to join MAP at Minnetrista’s Indiana Room to hear from each of our four task forces as they share the work completed during 2023. This is the third of four reports from our task force leaders.
MAP’s Task Force 3 is charged with improving Muncie’s Neighborhoods by cultivating partnerships around comprehensive, block-level strategies for improvement. The best indications of progress towards achieving healthy blocks and healthy neighborhoods are stabilized housing markets, improved housing conditions, increased resident engagement and grassroots leadership capacity, and improved neighborhood image.
Task Force 3 worked to move the needle on healthier neighborhoods by continuing to host monthly Neighborhood Leadership Council meetings every third Tuesday from 6-7 p.m. at the E.B. and Bertha C. Ball Center. In 2023, training topics included neighborhood safety, conflict resolution, and installing public art and murals.
CenterPoint Energy granted MAP thirty-eight thousand dollars in October to support the development of a new comprehensive training program for grassroots advocacy. The CenterPoint Scholars Program will train ten individuals between March 2024 and March 2025. Applications will be accepted through February 12th and are available online.
The initial cadre of CenterPoint Scholars will be announced at the annual IDEA conference on Ball State’s campus on March 02, 2024. This event brings together over 150 of Muncie’s most active local leaders who gather to listen, learn and meet like-minded individuals. The IDEA Conference was a 5th place winner in the Neighborhoods USA Conference Best Neighborhood Program award in 2023. Registration is now open for the 9th annual event – “Dressed to the Nines” – be prepared to walk the red carpet in your fanciest dress or your favorite neighborhood t-shirt.
MAP supported the work of Ball State’s Urban Planning graduate studio, which worked throughout fall 2023 to develop block level strategies for redevelopment of the Old West End Neighborhood. Under the direction of the course’s co-educators Nate Howard, Executive Director of the Muncie Land Bank and Jeb Reece, Associate Director of Landbanking and Strategic Planning at Intend Indiana, the graduate students created a comprehensive report of current ownership and redevelopment potential for all properties located within the neighborhood. This information is a crucial first step for the land bank to begin reinvestment work in the Old West End.
Task Force 3 continued to coordinate the Neighborhood ARP funding process, working alongside neighborhoods as they engaged with residents and developed their project proposals. In total, nineteen applications were approved in the first round of funding totaling nearly eight-hundred thousand dollars in investments in our city’s neighborhoods. A second round of funding will be announced in spring 2024 on MAP’s Facebook Page and on the Neighborhood ARP funding website.
MAP has partnered since 2019 with Ball State’s graphic design Studio 165+ to develop brand strategies and social media campaigns to highlight Muncie’s neighborhoods, MAP’s leadership programming, and the successful implementation of ARP funding. This partnership helps support image building efforts and a sense of pride within our neighborhoods.
MAP’s Task Force 3 looks forward to 2024. By continuing its support of Muncie’s neighborhood associations, by coordinating the inaugural CenterPoint Scholars Program, and by facilitating block level redevelopment efforts, we hope to continue moving the needle towards healthier neighborhoods for all of Muncie’s residents.
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