Glick Philanthropies breaks ground on $2M ‘success center’ for apartment residents

Officials from Glick Philanthropies and the city of Indianapolis broke ground Thursday morning on a $2 million “success center” for the residents of the Carriage House East apartment complex on the far east side.

The 10,000-square-foot facility is scheduled to open in January, and will serve the residents of the complex with an after-school program, a food and clothes pantry, cooking classes, a greenhouse and other community initiatives such as job training, financial literacy and space for kids and adults to do homework or access the internet.

Marianne Glick, chairman of the board of trustees for the Glick Family Foundation, said the center was “driven by our residents here” and was “physical evidence of the transformation on the Far East side."

“It’s your hopes and your desires we are encompassing in this new center,” Glick said.

Carriage House East, where 2,000 residents occupy 641 apartments, used to be a for-profit entity run by the Gene B. Click Co., but the Glick’s housing foundation acquired it in 2016 to infuse charitable dollars into the facility. For example, the complex now has on-site social workers.

The family foundation is paying for the new success center.

It’s part of the larger Far Eastside Success Initiative, which includes efforts to improve education and health, among other initiatives.

Ryan Brady, philanthropic adviser for Glick philanthropies, said the long-term strategy is to "make high-quality services more accessible by locating them right on site." He said the center would be both for residents and nearby neighbors.

Resident Ta’Hona Zackery, who worked at the complex’s summer camp last year, said she was excited to “have a place where we can come together as a community” and have a place to “work toward reaching a greater level in life.”

Mayor Joe Hogsett was on hand at the Thursday morning event to do the ground-breaking and said the goal was to “further uplift this great neighborhood.”

“This movement is part of a much larger movement here in the city of Indianapolis,” Hogsett said. “We have been intentional and very purposeful in leveraging the success of the grand downtown we all enjoy back into our neighborhoods. The far east side is rising.”

City-County Council member LaKeisha Jackson said the center would “connect residents and neighborhoods to break the cycle of poverty and achieve self-sufficiency.”