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The Central Indiana Community Foundation is teaming up with the Department of Public Safety to connect nonprofit organizations with the fight against crime.
Last year, the CICF donated $100,000 to the Indy Public Safety Foundation.
The money was used as grants for nonprofits committed to combating violence.
After that, the CICF did a listening tour with 60 organizations to garner feedback.
President Brian Payne says those conversations unveiled a disconnect between public safety and community groups.
"Let's say you live in an ugly neighborhood, that weighs on your behavior, that weighs on your sense of hope, it weighs on your outlook for a better future. It actually weighs you down," he said. "If we can work in a more comprehensive way about how we try to beautify neighborhoods, about how we try to lift up neighborhoods, but doing it in concert with the police and public safety, we just think that each individual effort becomes so much more powerful by working together."
And Payne says there is a goal to give more people better options than a life of crime.
"Either give them help by giving them training, give them resources, lead them - connect them to jobs, this is one aspect of it," he said. "But, also there has to be some public policy changes.
CICF and the Department of Public Safety are holding a town hall meeting to discuss the effort Thursday at the Central Library Downtown.
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