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FSSWCI wins $50,000 for Supportive Housing program
As a nonprofit housed in Putnam County, the newest and most “outsider” of the seven counties in the United Way of Central Indiana, the involvement of Family Support Services of West Central Indiana Propel pitch contest seemed like an uphill battle.
Rather than shy away from the challenge, though, Executive Director Scott Monnett and his staff leaned into it.
“I truly felt like the underdog. I’m Rocky Balboa, I’m going to go in swinging,” Monnett said. “I’m either going to fumble my words or we’re going to hit a home run.”
It was the latter on Thursday evening, as FSSWCI walked away as the recipient of the award from title sponsor Audiochuck. The award represents a $50,000 investment in the Family Support Services Supportive Housing program, the largest investment among the seven finalists in attendance.
Representing the only organization on the stage without an Indianapolis address, Monnett pulled no punches, highlighting the good and bad that can come from being a citizen of the only primarily rural county in the region.
“I’m going to talk to you about rural Indiana,” Monnett said. “I’m very proud to be up here representing Putnam County and the newest county to be added to the United Way agency.
“Putnam County is just like every rural community,” he continued. “You grow up, your friends stay your friends for your lifetime, you may meet the person that you love and that you marry in high school or even elemetnary school. You work in the place that your parents probably worked. Your friends are intertwined throughout your life.”
For some, though, that close-knit dream can become a nightmare.
“It’s the perfect dream, until it’s not — until domestic violence starts to creep into your life,” Monnett said. “And then everything that you loved about that rural community becomes a weapon that’s used against you, to keep you in that relationship, to keep you tied to that individual that is abusing you. And it becomes a way to manipulate you in the life that you’re living.”
Factors such as these are what makes supportive housing such an important piece in the Family Support Services goal of building “a community where no one is abused, and all families have the resources they need to build healthy lives.”
Supportive Housing is focused on the Housing First Model, which is exactly what it sounds like — getting survivors of domestic violence into stable housing quickly.
Domestic violence is a leading cause of homelessness for women and children. Once survivors are in stable housing, advocates can then provide the necessary support as they rebuild their lives. Components include survivor-driven, trauma-informed, mobile advocacy; community engagement; and flexible financial assistance.
Furthermore, Monnett drew upon a United Way report released earlier in the week that noted that Putnam County had the second-highest number of families facing financial hardship in the seven-county region.
“What that tells us is that the lack of resources we have in our county is being taxed even more,” Monnett said. “We have one homeless shelter that only has 14 beds. Domestic violence victims are not a priority.”
So the program was born of a conversation Monnett had with Victims Services Director Elizabeth Butts, when she said “We need better shelter options for the clients we’re serving.”
With that in mind, the organization took a leap of faith nearly three years ago.
“In 2020, as we all know, we were going through a little bit of a pandemic, but we started to get some recovery funds that were coming back into our community,” Monnett said. “That was our opportunity. We took that little gift that we received and said let’s jump. Let’s make it happen. We started looking for our first apartments that we could rent and we could provide.”
With the assistance of property owners who took their own leaps of faith, Family Support Services found those apartments and has been able to get women out of some dangerous situations, but they want to do more.
“I’m standing in front of you today hoping to increase capacity and build even more impact opportunities,” Monnett said in his pitch. “At Family Support Services, we believe there are five opportunity outcomes for individuals we serve -— education, health and wellbeing, economic security, mobility and, the most important, stable housing.”
With the money pledged, Monnett told the Banner Graphic on Friday that plans were taking shape on expanding and shoring up the program.
“What it means for us is we’re able to take some additional steps up front in terms of maybe securing some additional apartments. Do we move from nine (apartments) to 10 or 11?” he said. “How do we provide some additional financial support for the victims? We don’t always want to lean on community partners to provide for the victims’ needs.”
Citing the number of victims who say that leaving their abuser would leave them homeless, Monnett said, “Our goal is to end homelessness. We want to change lives, and I think we all believe if we can find a stable home for our victims, we will do that, and we want to improve the system that’s already troubled.”
In all, more than $100,000 was awarded during Thursday’s event to seven human services organizations addressing how to reduce barriers for those from under-resourced communities or asset-limited backgrounds.
A $35,000 award, presented by United Way and selected by a panel of judges, went to Ivy Tech Foundation. Funds will support Ivy Tech’s ELEVATE program, which assists those who have been involved in the criminal justice system and aims to reduce recidivism through workforce development.
Members of the public voted for the Heritage Group People’s Choice Award, giving $18,271 to Project WILL, Inc. The organization works with young adults ages 17 to 35 with behavioral health challenges and helps them through life transitions. It aims to address the disability employment gap and racial employment disparities.
The four other organizations that pitched their ideas live Thursday received $2,000. They are Circle City Village, Fathers and Families Center, Fight for Life Foundation and Indianapolis Legal Aid Society.
Even being on the stage Thursday felt like a victory, as FSSWCI was not initially a finalist, fighting for one of two spots (later expanded to three) through the peer-to-peer competition. Monnett said he knew that would be a fight, but “community support was great.”
And, win or not, he also knew that being part of the event would open doors to partnerships.
With the win secured, though, he knows it puts a spotlight on the organizaton and Supportive Housing particularly.
“I told Elizabeth, ‘The phone is going to ring. People are going to ask how you do this,’” Monnett recounted.
“Last night is about so much more than a check,” Monnett said. “It’s about the opportunities that are going to come into our county that are beyond what we do.”
Monnett added that being chosen by Audiochuck was gratifying beyond the dollar amount because the company produces podcasts that try to make a positive impact for victims and families.
“Audiochuck has done a lot to support victims of violence, victims of crime,” Monnett said. “They said last night that it seemed very natural that with the work that they’ve done has also been very centrally located, so what we’re doing in a rural community only made sense for them to get behind.”