Exploring your neighborhoods
Each month, we introduce you to a neighborhood association and its president. Our goal? To make it easier to get involved in your neighborhood. Use this map to find your neighborhood association. Check the “Neighborhood Organizations” box and scroll through the alphabetized list.
Samantha Douglas has lived on the Far Eastside since she was 8 years old. She grew up in Brookside, and she went to the neighborhood schools: IPS School 105, the old John Marshall school, and Arlington and Warren Central high schools.
When Douglas went to John Marshall in the early 2000s, it was a middle school. She walked there with her friends, and she remembers days when school was closed because there was no air conditioning. She was there when a tornado ripped up the top floor in 2002 and classes were moved to the first floor.
When she heard IPS planned to sell the school, she reached out to a school board member to ask for a meeting. She painted a whale mural on the school’s walls as a student and didn’t want to see the building torn down.
“I would have taken a special interest in being involved in the redevelopment of anything on the Far Eastside, honestly,” she said. “But John Marshall does hold special value.”
Now, at 35, she’s president of the Far Eastside Community Council (FECC) — as well as a graphic designer, a co-host of The Black Briefing podcast, a wife and a mom. One of her biggest goals for the neighborhood this year is making sure residents are included in the redevelopment plan for John Marshall.
Douglas and some of her neighbors are on an IPS task force, and get to help decide what will happen with part of the land.
When Douglas became president of the neighborhood organization in 2022, she changed the mission statement. At first, it was: “to be the voice of the Far Eastside.”
Upcoming meetings
Far Eastside Community Council
🗓️ 6 p.m. every fourth Tuesday of the month
📍 P30, 3039 N. Post Road
🌮 Free tacos starting at 5:30 p.m.
Now, it’s “elevating the voices and priorities of our residents.”
“I don’t think any of us can be the voice,” she said. “But I think our goal is – whether we agree or not, whether we understand or not – is to elevate voices so that we can have an accurate representation of what our residents want and need.”
The Far Eastside is about 60 square miles. Douglas says if you dropped a pin at 38th Street and Post Road, she focuses on everything within five miles of there. She lives down Post Road, near 21st Street.
The community is full of thousands of people, with a population that’s predominantly Black. There’s also Hispanic, Chin and Haitian communities. It’s home to the Hindu Temple of Central Indiana, His Place Eatery, Broganville Farm and P30, where Douglas records her podcast and hosts the monthly neighborhood meetings.
At the monthly meetings, you’ll see her setting up beforehand and serving free tacos to families that go through the line. As a mom of four boys, she hopes her kids see her and her husband serving their neighbors.
“Serving folks is a part of our lifestyle. It’s not something that you just do one time because it’s a cool thing, or just to scratch your little itch of feeling like you’re a good person,” she said. “But it’s actually a part of who you are and who we all should be.”
Meet your neighbors at Taco Tuesdays
The FECC meets at 6 p.m. every fourth Tuesday of the month at P30, 3039 N. Post Road.
Why go? Well, first of all, there are free Paco’s Tacos. They start serving food at 5:30 p.m. There’s R&B on the speakers and an area outside for kids to run and play.
Neighborhood groups, nonprofits and representatives from the city show up and share resources.
At the June meeting, FACE Low-Cost Animal Clinic talked about how to get your pets vaccinated and spayed or neutered. CAFE shared upcoming events, such as the Far Eastside Community Festival on July 26.
“This is one of the easiest ways to be plugged in,” Douglas said. “It’s very easy for people to disregard neighborhood organizations if they’re not active and present.”
You can check out FECC events online, on Facebook or on Instagram.
Bringing in kids through basketball
Douglas wants to get kids more involved in their neighborhood. Douglas even brought on a youth and engagement coordinator, Shardae Hoskins.
One of the way’s Hoskins is reaching them is a basketball tournament at the Far Eastside Community Festival on July 26.
Anyone under 30 can form a team — as long as there’s no pros or former pros — and compete for a $1,000 cash prize.
More from the neighborhood
See a snapshot of the Far Eastside on a summer afternoon
See photos captured July 18 around the Far Eastside neighborhood of Indianapolis.
The festival’s also a place where Douglas can collaborate with the council’s partners, such as CAFE and the Boys and Girls Club. It’s a place to share resources, but Douglas emphasized it’s really a time to celebrate and have fun together.
“We treat each other like we’re family, like we’re ride or die,” she said about Far Eastsiders.
“Regardless of whether we agree on where we stand or our approach, you can always hang your hat on the fact that we love the Far.”
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Mirror Indy reporter Sophie Young covers services and resources. Contact her at sophie.young@mirrorindy.org.
Get to know Indy’s neighborhoods
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