Collaborators/Partners

Pieces of the Puzzle-
Partnering Improves Outcomes.
by Shawn Delmolino (Ball State University, Intern, 2008)

Staff members of Concord Neighborhood Center stress the value and significance of partnering with other agencies who help the center strive toward it’s mission to provide services for the community. Client resources, youth recreation, and academics are a few examples of areas that partnerships help to enhance.

Case workers at Concord are very appreciative of the hard work and efforts put forth by the Customer Relations Case Specialist at Citizens Gas. Through this partnership they are able to gather information regarding necessary steps to help resolve clients’ issues.

Also, contacts through Community Action, who operate the Energy Assistance Program, “have been extremely helpful to Concord in more ways than one”, says Dana Orr, Social Worker.
In regards to the community’s youth, America Reads and Math Counts are two very beneficial partnerships as well. America Reads and Math Counts, tutoring programs offered through IUPUI, “provide about 20 hours a week of individualized tutoring that the agency could not offer alone, this is a very valuable asset to Concord and its families”, says Director of Children’s Services, Lynn Rogers.

Also, Riverside Park partners with Concord by including the youth in recreational programs such as basketball and baseball leagues. This gives the kids of Concord an arena in which to participate and compete on a larger scale rather than just within the center.

Paula Richter, NFTF Program Director emphasizes the importance of the collaborations between Concord and it’s surrounding schools. Communication between the school social workers, teachers, and principals allows Now For The Future, a Concord youth program, to work fervently toward it’s goal of positively impacting the kids’ education. “Having these social workers, teachers, and principals available is very important to the program and helps to encourage it’s success”, says Paula.

A FEW of our others Partners—Art Reach, OWL (First Congregational Church), Villa at Sacred Heart, Sunrise Rotary Club, Kiwanis Club, Wishard, Marion County Health Department, ATHome Care Services, United Christmas Service, Busy Bodies-the complete list exceeds.