Two south central Indiana towns are among 10 sharing in $200,000 in grants through the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs (OCRA).
Hope (population 1,159) and Vernon (population 248) have been selected to receive money through a pilot initiative called the “Building Socially Connected Communities” program. The initiative’s goal is to combat isolation and loneliness by funding projects that enhance social connections, according to an OCRA press release.
For its inaugural year, the program is focused on helping Hoosiers residing in rural areas, the release stated.
Hope
In a 50/50 matching grant, Hope has been awarded $44,285 to install sections of sidewalks that will lead to the town square, town manager Jason Eckart said. The new walkways are intended to improve mental health by helping people get out of their homes and into the community.
The town is planning to create a walking group. Once a month, there will be a minister from a local church joining the group who will be available for counselling if needed, Eckart said. That arrangement was made in a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the Hope Ministerial Association and town government, according to Eckart.
Windrose Health Network has signed a similar MOU that will create a monthly event called “Walk With A Doc,” which will provide a physician available for consultation during a walk, the town manager said. Heather Fowler, the co-owner of Ah-Ha Corner Cafe, has agreed to lead the walking group that is being supported by Main Street of Hope.
One sidewalk will be placed on the west side of Harrison Street, from Washington Street to Seminary Street. From Seminary, a new walkway will be constructed west to Main Street (State Road 9), where a sidewalk already exists that leads back to the town square, Eckart said.
After a new sidewalk was installed last year on the north side of Washington Street that links two town parks, current plans call for the eventual construction of a sidewalk on the other side of Washington that will connect the Community Center of Hope with the town square, Eckart said.
“The children who go to the community center will have a safe way to get to the town square,” Eckart said. “People will also be able to walk safely to the food bank, as well.”
Bids will be sought early next year.
Vernon
As the county seat of Jennings County, Vernon is considered the smallest town with that designation in the state of Indiana.
The town has received a $50,000 matching grant from OCRA to turn the 101-year-old abandoned Vernon High School building at 29 Washington St. into a community center, Vernon Mayor Marshall Zamora said.
Plans call for restoring and re-purposing the building that has been without occupants since the 1980s, Zamora said.
While restoration efforts will include refinishing classroom floors and installing modern windows, the mayor said care must be taken because the old high school is on the National Register of Historic Places.
“We had to get a certificate of approval from Indiana Landmarks and Historic Landmarks to make sure we stay within certain guidelines,” Zamora said.
The new community center, which will eventually house a branch of the Jennings County Public Library, will also have a welcome center open for community gatherings, according to the mayor.
A recreational room will be constructed that will be made available to the public most of the time, Zamora said.
“But (the recreation room) will also help us do some programming with groups like the Boys Club and Girls Club,” the mayor said. “It will help them to do an outreach program designed to appeal to students in middle and high school.”
Zamora also announced that Vernon has received a separate $34,000 grant through Managed Health Services, an Indianapolis-based insurer.
This second grant will allow the installation of broadband internet access in the new community center, as well as the purchase of six computers, the mayor said.
Vernon High School was built in 1923. The school served the community until 1965 when all county high schools were consolidated into Jennings County High School.
