The 34th Indiana Public Health Celebration & Hulman Awards will be held October 25, 2018 and include an evening reception and dinner. 

The guest speaker will be Pam Aaltonen, PhD, RN, President Elect, APHA.

Awards program includes Dr. Helen L Scheibner Life Science & Public Health Scholarship, Stephen Jay Awards for Leadership in Public Health, and Hulman Health Achievement Awards.

Special Guest: Dr. Daniel Rusyniak is the Chief Medical Officer for the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration

Individual Ticket Price: $65

Student Ticket price: $35

The 2019 Prosperity Indiana Summit will explore diverse strategies to build individual, organizational and community wealth. Our goal is to highlight diversity and innovations in the field and build capacity to do more of the same. 

Please see the following to submit a session for consideration: 2019 Prosperity Indiana Summit: Call for Session Proposals.

This fall, during the NLC City Summit in Los Angeles, Gary Mayor and Aim 2nd Vice President Karen Freeman-Wilson is slated to become the next president of NLC. I can’t begin to tell you how excited I am for Karen to step into this role - representing America’s cities, towns and villages at the highest level! The Aim Board of Directors, and Karen’s fellow Aim Officers, have expressed their excitement and support for Karen during her rise among NLC’s excellent crop of local leaders.

As is customary during the City Summit, the state league of the incoming NLC president hosts an all-conference gathering the evening prior to taking office. This after-hours event is more than just a time to let your hair down. It is a time for attendees to celebrate as colleagues and as friends, and to continue networking with one another as they share valuable insights and make the most of the short time together.

Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Lesley Mosier at lmosier@aimindiana.org.

Sincerely,

Matt Greller

CEO

Accelerate Indiana Municipalities

If you live in a mobile home in Indiana – either as an owner or a renter – you could lose your home if the property taxes are behind.

Personal property taxes must be paid on mobile homes yearly. If you owe as little as $25, your mobile home is at risk of being sold at auction. Demand for payment and notice of sale should be mailed to each taxpayer, but if the title to the mobile home is not in your name, if you don’t have a recorded contract that you are buying it, or if the county does not have your address, you may not get notice.

The first sale in the state will happen later this month in Lawrence County. As of August 1, there were still 168 mobile home owners in the county behind on taxes, down from 700 in January.

Prosperity Indiana member Indiana Legal Services, Inc. (ILS) has created a brochure to help those living in mobile homes to know their rights and explain how to avoid sale.

After a 12-year appeal process, the Indiana Board of Tax Review (IBTR) ruled in favor of the nonprofit Housing Partnerships, Inc. (HPI), determining the organization’s ownership of scattered-site housing does qualify for property tax exemption. The county assessor’s office decided to repeal the decision, potentially forcing HPI to sell 11 affordable homes to pay off debt taken out to pay the taxes. Read more about the appeal in this article from The Republic and see Thrive Alliance’s response in their press release.

Prosperity Indiana’s Executive Director, Jessica Love, responded to the decision in this letter, pointing out the assessor’s faulty logic that low-cost private landlords will be impaired by the exemptions, citing the Out of Reach data which shows that a minimum wage worker in Indiana must work 86 hours per week to afford a two-bedroom apartment at fair market rate.

“Prosperity Indiana hopes the IBTR’s decision in HPI’s case will stand and serve as a powerful precedent,” Love said. “We urge the incoming assessor to look at the whole equation when weighing how to proceed, so HPI can continue serving the community’s unmet needs.”

ALICE is an acronym for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed. These households have incomes above the Federal Poverty Level but struggle to afford basic household necessities. In the words of Indiana United Ways Board Chair, Ron Turpin, “ALICE gets up each day to go to work, but still faces financial barriers – working jobs that offer no healthcare, vacation, or paid sick leave. These workers hold jobs that are critical to the success and vitality of our communities, yet they often struggle to afford food, rent, child care, and transportation, and have little left over for saving and investing.”

The 2018 ALICE report updates the cost of basic needs in the Household Survival Budget for each county in Indiana and the number of households earning below the amount needed to afford that budget (the ALICE Threshold) for the period of 2010 to 2016. It also highlights emerging trends that will affect ALICE families in the future.

Highlights from the report include:

• In 2016, 39 percent of Indiana households live below the ALICE Threshold, meaning they could not afford basic needs such as housing, child care, food, transportation, health care, and technology. This is an increase of 10 percent from 2010.
  
• The cost of basic household expenses in Indiana increased steadily to $52,836 for a family of four (two adults with one infant and one preschooler) and $19,620 for a single adult — significantly higher than the FPL of $24,300 for a family of four and $11,880 for a single adult. The cost of the family budget increased by 23 percent from 2010 to 2016.
  
• Low-wage jobs continued to dominate the landscape in Indiana, with 65 percent of all jobs paying less than $20 per hour. Although unemployment rates fell during this period, wages remained low for many occupations. With more contract work and on-demand jobs, job instability also increased, making it difficult for ALICE workers to meet regular monthly expenses or to save.
  

Emerging trends include:

• The Changing American Household — Shifting demographics, including the rise of the millennials, the aging of the baby boomers, and domestic and foreign migration patterns, are having an impact on who is living together in households and where and how people work. These changes, in turn, influence the demand for goods and services, ranging from the location of housing to the provision of caregiving.
  
• Market Instability — Within a global economy, economic disruptions, natural disasters, and technological advances in other parts of the world trigger rapid change across U.S. industries and cause shifts in supply and demand. This will increasingly destabilize employment opportunities for ALICE workers.
  
• Growing Health Inequality — With technological advances in health care outpacing the ability of many households to afford them, there will be increasing disparities in health according to income. The societal costs of having large numbers of U.S. residents in poor health will also grow.
  

Click here to download the full report.

Community Loan Centers (CLC) exist to provide an alternative, fairly-priced loan program to low-income families. On Wednesday, August 29, the Indiana Assets & Opportunity Network hosted a free webinar featuring special guest Matt Hull, executive director of the Texas Association of Community Development Corporations, examining how CLCs are helping families in 16 markets across seven states. Topics covered include:

• What is payday lending and why are alternatives needed?
• What is a Community Loan Center and how does it operate?
• How can you bring a Community Loan Center to your community?

CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE WEBINAR.

To learn more about becoming a CLC partner or how you can be informed of upcoming Network webinars and events, contact Logan Charlesworth, Network Manager.

First impressions are a tricky thing. The professional side of me feels like introductions should be formal and I should tell all of you something impressive about myself or spout off my work history. However, that wouldn't be "me" at all. If we were meeting in-person (which if we haven't, we'll need to change that soon), I'd more than likely tell you all about my cat who, over the past couple weeks, has already impacted the way I think about this Network and care about its mission even more than I already did - which is saying a lot.

Yes, it sounds strange, but allow me to explain.

It's probably important to say that I'm an animal person - being asked whether I'm a cat or dog person is far more stressful than being asked for my opinion on certain political issues. I've been known to nurse injured woodland creatures who wandered onto my front stoop back to health and consider being a called a crazy cat/dog/animal lady a badge of honor. I'd like to think of myself as a modern day Snow White. So, when my senior cat, Banksy, was in visible pain last Wednesday morning, I dashed to the vet without a thought of how much his visit and subsequent treatment would cost.

Fortunately, the talented veterinarians were able to diagnose his near-fatal ailment quickly. For nearly three full days, Banksy stayed in the animal hospital under their watchful eyes, charming the staff into giving him more behind-the-ear scratches and belly rubs than they bargained for.

Unfortunately, his animal hospital stays resulted in a rather large bill. We're talking three times my monthly rent payment large. Thankfully, I took my mother's advice and have been saving for a rainy day since I landed my first job at age 15, so Banksy's bills were covered. However, after reading about payday loans and the repercussions of loans made at alarmingly high interest rates for days on end during my first week at Prosperity Indiana, I asked the office staff at the animal hospital what options would be available if I were unable to cover his tab. To my surprise, the only option presented to me was a monthly payment plan with a 55 percent interest rate. Fifty-five percent.

I know my problems are minuscule in comparison to the issues facing the Hoosiers the Network serves. However, it was a call to action - many do not have a rainy day fund they can pull from when an unexpected (and extremely expensive) life event of any kind hits them. When desperate times arise, sometimes taking the high-interest route seems like the only option, even if it means financial disaster down the road. And that's exactly why the work of the Network is so important and highly personal to me.

For those of you who may be wondering, Banksy is back at home and, much to his delight, on a wet food diet for the rest of his days. Doctor's orders. As for me, I come to the Network after years of helping community-based organizations amplify their work, connect to resources, and develop meaningful partnerships to achieve ambitious goals. That is why I am excited to hear and learn from you about ways we can make our state a better, more prosperous place for everyone, even on the rainiest of days.

We have exciting, but formidable work ahead and it will take a strong Network to accomplish our goals, so if you want to find out how you can get more involved, reach out!

I look forward to working alongside each of you in the days, months, and years ahead.

All the best,

Logan
Indiana Assets & Opportunity Network Manager

The Health Opportunity and Equity (HOPE) Initiative, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, was launched with the belief that every person in the U.S., no matter their background or ZIP code, should have a fair and just opportunity for the best possible health and well-being. Their report, released at the end of July, provides data around a number of social determinants of health broken down by state as well as by race and ethnicity. This data highlights some of the deep-rooted racial disparities in physical and financial well-being that Prosperity Indiana members are working to address.

Here are some of the highlights for Indiana:

Indiana ranks 39^th in the country for adult health status, with 46.4% of adults reporting their health as very good or excellent. That percentage drops among blacks and Hispanics, with only 38.1% and 32.1% reporting very good or excellent health, respectively.

At 60.5%, Indiana ranks 29^th in the country for households with a livable income (greater than 250% of the federal poverty line). Again, there is a stark difference between racial and ethnic groups. The proportion of both whites and Asians with a livable income is over 60%, while the proportions of blacks and Hispanics are both closer to 40%.

One of Indiana’s biggest problem areas is the racial inequality around concentration of poverty. Concentration of poverty, for the purpose of this report, refers to the proportion of people living in neighborhoods with less than 20% of residents living in poverty. For white Hoosiers, that percentage is close to 85%. For blacks, the number goes down to 46%.

The one area Indiana fares relatively well in? Housing. Indiana ranks 9^th in the country for proportion of households spending no more than 30% of monthly household income on housing and related expenses. However, the racial divide still exists, with 76.3% of white households being affordable, while only 54.3% of black households are considered affordable.  Indiana also ranks 9^th in the country for homeownership rates, with 72.1% of households living in a home they own. That percentage again drops among minority groups – 40.7% for blacks, 55% for Hispanics, and 54.8% for Asians.

As a network, Prosperity Indiana members are working to improve numbers in every one of these categories, particularly for the most disadvantaged groups. Together, we work to close these gaps so that everyone in our communities has the opportunity to live a healthy, prosperous life.   

Homeownership rates have increased slightly from the first quarter of 2018, but not for all racial and ethnic groups. Nationally, the homeownership rate increased to 64.3% in the second quarter, up slightly from the rate of 64.2% in the first quarter and from 63.7% one year ago, according to the latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau. This represents an additional 1.8 million homeowners over the past year.

In Indiana, the homeownership rate stands at 72.9% this quarter, up from 69.2% last quarter and 72.0% in the second quarter of 2017.

Despite these increases, not all racial and ethnic groups have seen a rise in homeownership rates. Nationally, the white American homeownership rate rose to 72.9% in the second quarter, up from 72.4% in the first quarter and 72.2% last year. Black and Hispanic homeownership rates, however, fell in the second quarter. The black homeownership rate stands at 41.6%, down from 42.2% in the first quarter of this year and from 42.3% at this time last year. The Hispanic homeownership rate saw a similar decline, with a rate of 46.6% in the second quarter compared to the first quarter rate of 48.4%. This rate is still up from 45.5% in the second quarter of 2017.

Which group is driving the overall homeownership rate up? Millennials. Homeownership rates for those under 35 have risen to 36.5% in the second quarter of 2018, up from 35.3% in the first quarter. This is the highest homeownership rate seen among Millennials in five years.

Click here to read the analysis from HousingWire, and here to view the data from the U.S. Census Bureau.