This year, the Far Eastside neighborhood will create a quality of life plan — a set of goals and strategies created by residents to improve a neighborhood.
For the past few months, a group of 15 Far Eastsiders have met to learn more about local government, community engagement and advocacy to pave the way for it.
The group is part of a leadership program created to help turn residents into community leaders to implement the neighborhood quality of life plan. LISC Indianapolis, which was chosen by the city to lead the planning process for the Far Eastside Quality of Life Plan, established the program to get more residents involved in the process.
Dozens of residents applied for the program. The 15 chosen were selected to represent the diversity of the Far Eastside.
The leadership program consists of a series of workshops on public speaking, community organizing, local policy and the history of the Far Eastside.
The group has also watched community work in action on several field trips. They’ve met with local government officials, attended a Warren Township Development Association meeting and met with the Riverside Civic League to learn about the group’s community involvement.
While the city doesn’t formally adopt quality of life plans, the Department of Metropolitan Development can certify them to acknowledge a community’s desires.
Meet a few of the cohort members striving for a better future for the Far Eastside.
Jorden Williams wants to make a better community for kids
Jorden Williams is a 38-year-old single mom of two boys. Her family moved to the Far Eastside in 2024.
Williams said she wanted to participate in the leadership program to learn more about the neighborhood and help make the community better for her kids.
“I want to be involved,” she said. “I don’t want to just talk about it or complain.”
Some of the topics she hopes are addressed in the Far Eastside Quality of Life plan include public safety, mental health and financial wellness. She hopes the plan will help make the neighborhood better for everyone.
“My children are residents of the Far Eastside,” Williams said. “They are young, they are impressionable. I want to have a hand in making it not just safe for my children and myself, but for other parents and people in the community.”
Patricia Gilbert says neighbors are like family
Patricia Gilbert, 65, is a lifelong Far Eastsider who loves her neighborhood.
“My kids were raised here,” Gilbert said. “My grandkids are still here. My great grandkids are being raised here. I love it. I wouldn’t know where to live anywhere else.”
Gilbert said the leadership program was like a calling. She’s always liked working with others and wanted to help improve the neighborhood.
“I’m trying to preach to my grandkids,” Gilbert said. “I’m trying to preach to everybody. Now, I got a part and a voice in the community.”
Gilbert said the residents on the Far Eastside are like family. She said there are many organizations that provide community support, such as the Community Alliance of the Far Eastside and the Far Eastside Community Council, and youth mentor groups such as Inner Beauty and New Breed of Youth Inc.
She said she’s learning a lot about how to serve her community through the program.
“We’re learning about zoning, we’re learning about civic processes, we’re learning about how to advocate for our residents,” Gilbert said.
She uses Facebook to share information about events, programs and news with neighbors.
She hopes the quality of life plan will get more people involved in the community. That input and engagement is what will make the plan successful, she said.
“If the residents don’t put their input or their concerns out there, we’ll never know what’s wrong,” Gilbert said. “How do we address them if they don’t tell us what’s going on with them, how would we know?”
Bodler St. Louis belongs to the growing Haitian community
Bodler St. Louis, 22, was born in Haiti and moved to the U.S. when he was 7 years old. He moved to Indianapolis six years ago.
His favorite thing about the Far Eastside is the amount of opportunities in the neighborhood. When he moved, he enrolled in programs at the Community Alliance of the Far Eastside. He’s worked in construction, mechanical work and has an information technology certification.
“Everything about me came from CAFE,” St. Louis said. “I’’m very grateful for CAFE. That’s where I started and I feel like if more people was exposed to what I was exposed to, a lot could change.”
Like other parts of the city, the Far Eastside has a growing Haitian community. St. Louis said since moving to Indianapolis, he’s noticed more organizations providing translation services for Haitian Creole speakers.
“It’s like we’re being noticed,” he said. “There’s still so much more to do, but it’s looking good.”
He said he’s learned a lot from the leadership program, like about how the economy affects housing, health care and schools. He hopes to help teach other people what he’s learned.
“We could all help each other,” he said. “If we all stick together in unity, we could get so much done.”
Alise Dalstrom lives and works in the neighborhood
Alise Dalstrom, 34, lives and works on the Far Eastside. She’s a mother of two daughters and the principal of Circle City Prep, a charter school in the area.
She said the Far Eastside Quality of Life Plan is an opportunity to have actional steps to better the neighborhood. Education and youth engagement are some of her top priorities for the plan. She wants to ensure that every young person has resources available to them in the neighborhood.
“They should not have to go somewhere else to get the education that is going to move them forward,” Dalstrom said. “They should not have to go somewhere else to be involved in programs that move the needle forward for themselves.”
Dalstrom said there are a lot of negative misconceptions about the Far Eastside. But, she said Far Eastsiders are resilient. She said that resilience has been evident in the Quality of Life Planning process.
“I don’t think I’ve ever met anybody from the Far Eastside who is just like, well, this is just how it is, and that’s the end of it,” she said. “The resiliency and the desire to make things better is a through line for every single person I talk to on the Far Eastside.”
Mirror Indy, a nonprofit newsroom, is funded through grants and donations from individuals, foundations and organizations.
Mirror Indy reporter Darian Benson covers east Indianapolis. Contact her at 317-397-7262 or darian.benson@mirrorindy.org. Follow her on X @HelloImDarian or on Bluesky @darianbenson.bsky.social.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
