Happy Holidays! 
As the year winds down we’re beginning to focus on 2024 and making sure that the positive momentum will continue to be seen and felt throughout our community.
The Wabash River Regional Development Authority (RDA) announced the process for READI 2.0. The guidelines for applying have been released and they are now accepting applications from stakeholders within the communities it represents: Clay, Parke, Sullivan, Vermillion, and Vigo Counties.
While the regional awards will not be announced until 2024, the Indiana General Assembly approved an additional $500 million in Regional Economic Acceleration and Development Initiative (READI) funds in the 2023 budget Session.
Additionally, the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC) recently launched round two of the state’s well-known regional planning and implementation initiative aimed at projects meant to attract and retain talent across the state of Indiana.
The Wabash River RDA plans to focus its attention on four key areas, which align with the state’s goals for funding. The key areas include housing, early childhood development and care, recreational tourism, and workforce readiness and development.
The IEDC released eligibility requirements earlier this year. Public, private, and non-profit entities are eligible to receive funding for capital infrastructure projects, provided they can meet the required match. For more information on the READI program and state requirements, visit https://indianareadi.com/resources.
In preparation for the process to apply for READI 2.0 funds, the Wabash River RDA has invited all potential project stakeholders within the five-county region to review the application guidelines and submit questions at https://www.wabashriverrda.com/readi-2-0-application.
Tourism Pillar
The Vigo County History Center has launched a campaign to preserve history, our building, and the iconic Birthplace of the Coca-Cola Bottle mural.
Since January 2022, heavy rainstorms have caused water to infiltrate the interior wall on all three upper floors and the building’s basement.
Crews must begin work to replace and repair all joints in the wall to seal and stop water from damaging the building. After construction and repair, the beloved Birthplace of the Coca-Cola Bottle mural on the east wall will need to be repainted.
The Terre Haute community can have a part in helping preserve Terre Haute’s history and its image today. The Vigo County History Center is selling virtual bricks that represent the iconic wall.
Learn more or purchase your ‘bricks’ here.
Quality of Life Pillar
Building on the momentum of what has been accomplished with past planning efforts, the City of Terre Haute, Vigo County, and Riverscape are developing a Riverfront Master Plan focused on activating on the riverfront.
The community is invited to help create a strategic, comprehensive and creative roadmap for our future. The plan will address a wide range of issues including conservation and stewardship of natural landscapes, water quality, cultural resources, land-based and water-based recreation, educational opportunities, entertainment, housing and other priorities our community may identify.
The goal is to create a long-term master plan that inspires investment, development and activation of the riverfront by private, public and philanthropic partners so that Terre Haute and Vigo County will become the most vibrant, beautiful and prosperous riverfront community in Indiana.
The planning group has released a survey and wants your big ideas for the Riverfront Master Plan. Take the survey here.
The survey closes December 29th.
Health and Wellness Pillar
The Irsay family, owners of the Indianapolis Colts, announced $1.1 million in Kicking The Stigma Action Grants to 26 Indiana nonprofits and organizations that provide mental health treatment services or raise awareness about mental health.
This is the third year of the Action Grant program. The Irsays created the grants as a part of Kicking The Stigma, an initiative they launched in 2020 to raise awareness about mental health disorders and to remove the stigma often associated with these illnesses.
Two Terre Haute mental health service providers were given a financial boost from the campaign.
Family Service Association Counseling Center, FSA, will utilize the funds to provide comprehensive mental health services to youth and families in Terre Haute and Vigo County. The grant will also fund mental health first aid training for the employees at Harsha Behavioral Center.
To read more about the campaign click here.
Infrastructure Pillar
Recently, Thrive West Central celebrated the first completed house from the READI-funded Homes for the Future Pilot Program through a ribbon cutting at the first completed home.
After a request for funding proposal process, chosen homebuilders/developers could receive up to $245,000 of the building cost to cover eligible infrastructure expenditures upon the completion of each home built. This program emphasizes a focus on developers and homebuilders creating homes at market rate to meet the needs of an ever-growing workforce and population in West Central Indiana.
This program is developing new energy around homebuilding in our region and will positively impact families throughout the community!
Learn more about the Homes for the Future Pilot Program here.
Talent Attraction and Retention Pillar
The Vigo County School Corp. has been awarded a $299,132 competitive science of reading grant for 2023-24.
Nearly $15 million was awarded to 72 school corporations, serving over 65,000 students in kindergarten through third grade, to support the implementation of evidence-based practices aligned with the science of reading.
Successful applications incorporated one or more of the following elements:
Placing one full-time literacy instructional coach in each school serving kindergarten through third grade to train and support teachers and administrators to align instruction to the science of reading; Providing support to teachers and administrators pursuing professional development in the science of reading; Increasing instructional time for students in kindergarten through third grade identified as struggling readers; and Purchasing core and supplemental curricular materials aligned to the science of reading.
The competitive science of reading grant is one of several solutions made possible through Indiana’s $170 million investment — in partnership with the Lilly Endowment — toward literacy and particularly, the science of reading.
The science of reading is a body of scientifically based research that integrates instructional practices with efforts focused on phonics, phonemic awareness, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension.
In addition to research about reading and reading development, the science of reading includes numerous scientific studies about effective reading instruction and intervention, including what to teach and how to teach it.
Economic Development Pillar
United Way of the Wabash Valley has announced a new grant opportunity made available by its Job Skills Impact Council to help address job skills challenges in the Wabash Valley. Stable, living-wage employment is essential for helping struggling families improve their economic circumstances.
At a time when employers report having job opportunities available, one may easily assume that it’s simple for workers to find and keep the living wage employment they need. Unfortunately, data shows that in our region, both urban and rural, people of prime working age are struggling with unemployment or underemployment.
This funding is intended to help bring a variety of resources together or fill a gap by allowing for participation in programs in order to provide more opportunities for individuals. Proposed projects can take a variety of approaches to addressing job skills challenges in the United Way service area. Potential programs could include, but are not limited to programs that:
Connect individuals who have an employment barrier (people with disabilities, formerly incarcerated individuals, language barrier, etc.) with employers
Facilitate transitional job opportunities for individuals who have been out of the workforce
Help remove structural barriers, such as transportation to employment
Provide individuals with life/career coaching and mentorship for job attainment and retention (time management, financial literacy, resume writing, computer skills, conflict resolution, etc.)
The grant is open to non-profit organizations, educational institutions, faith-based groups, government entities, and community organizations in the six-county United Way service area of Vigo, Vermillion, Clay, Parke, and Sullivan counties in Indiana and Clark County in Illinois. There will be an orientation meeting on November 28th at 5:30 pm to learn more about the process and the grant opportunity.
If interested, please RSVP to Michele Bennett at 812-235-6287 or mbennett@uwwv.org. The letters of intent are due on Monday, January 15, 2024.
Learn more about the grant opportunity here.
