Foellinger Foundation

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Voices of Southeast

Foellinger Foundation’s mission is to provide grants, leadership training, workshops, and conferences to strengthen organizations that serve children and families—particularly those with the greatest economic need and least opportunity. 

One of the ways we do this is by supporting nonprofits, programs, and projects that address broader community issues. We recently convened some of our community partners to identify those issues, and the result was a refined focus at the neighborhood-level, known as the Thrive Initiative. The Thrive Initiative invests in community-identified neighborhoods. By addressing needs at the neighborhood-level, we’re working more closely with those most positioned to address those individuals’ needs.

In its initial phase, the Thrive Initiative focuses on supporting the Southeast Fort Wayne community. 

Because of this focus, Foellinger Foundation was excited to partner with Input Fort Wayne for their Voices of Southeast Series—intended to produce accurate, authentic storytelling about an underserved part of a community, resulting in greater attention given to that community's self-defined leaders, issues, and innovations.

We know the residents, businesses, and organizations in this community are the ones best positioned to tell its story. We’re proud to share the articles that resulted from this partnership below.


Longtime residents weigh in on the community's assets and future developments

Longtime residents and advocates for Fort Wayne’s Southeast side reflect on the progress being made in the community.

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Yoga classes bring self-love, healing from trauma to Southeast neighborhoods

Diane Rogers and Haley Evans host a yoga class twice a week in Southeast Fort Wayne. These classes are described as a slow flow class for people of all abilities.

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This Fort Wayne mother is helping others navigate postpartum life

Asha Hernandez-Bailey’s business, Cocina Cura, offers classes, in-home services, and healing foods for the postpartum period. She primarily caters to mothers on the Southeast side of Fort Wayne and its surrounding areas.

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Building a culture of peaceful progress in Fort Wayne, starting with students 

Alive Community Outreach’s Peacemaker Academy, a new program at South Side High School, seeks to build a culture of peace in Fort Wayne, and it’s doing so one group of dedicated high school students at a time. 

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English Language Learner teachers fill gaps in student and family support

When the pandemic forced Fort Wayne schools to move to virtual learning models in 2020, students, families, and teachers alike had to get creative and collaborate to help young learners keep progressing. Many English Language Learner (ELL) teachers went above and beyond to attempt to meet their students where they were at—both literally and metaphorically.

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Fort Wayne's first Gospel radio station seeks to uplift the Black community

Rhythm & Praise 94.1, Fort Wayne’s first gospel radio station, launched in 2018. It started as an online station and transitioned to an fm station on the radio dial in September.

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Open Walls elevate artists to promote social mobility and inclusive growth

Francisco “Paco” Reyes and the Fort Wayne Public Art Commission identified walls in Southeast Fort Wayne that are ideal for street artists, got permission from the owners to paint them, and then publicized the walls on social media for street artists to take part.

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First-time homeowners contribute to community growth and wealth building

Habitat for Humanity of Greater Fort Wayne has renewed focus on building and rehabilitating homes on the city’s Southeast Side largely because of the need in the area, and statistically, the more homeowners who live in an area, the more prosperous those neighborhoods and people become.

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Our vision is that Allen County residents increase their self-reliance, and we support initiatives that help our residents help themselves. These stories reflect the sheer resiliency of the residents of Southeast Fort Wayne, and how they continue moving themselves from dependence to independence.