Waterways for All

 

Waterways for All

Water is a basic human need. A basic right. Water is life. But, clean water and waterways are not guaranteed for all. A century of raw sewage dumped into and chemical pollution running off into our waterways and a system of lead piping makes Indianapolis’ most urban and diverse neighborhoods the very same ones that have historically been most negatively impacted. Today, the antiquated sewage systems are being cleaned up; invasive plants are being replace with native pollinators; viewshed are opening up to expose the beauty and wonder of the waterways; safe spaces, trails, parks and greenways are being expanded; and communities are engaged and activating these waterway spaces. We are working toward and envision a time when everyone in Indianapolis can value, celebrate and have equal access to clean water and waterways.

Reconnecting to Our Waterways’ Equity Journey:

  • Working with neighborhoods on community-led efforts and resources since 2012
  • Building equity into ROWs mission in 2018
  • Creating a Racial Equity Subcommittee in 2019
  • Providing leadership training in 2020
  • Requiring antiracist training for the Steering Committee members in 2021
  • Creating tools and toolkits for all to join ROW in this journey in 2021

Reconnecting to Our Waterways, through its various lenses and working with dozens of community partners, strives to improve the communities in neighborhoods once neglected. Since its inception in 2012, ROW has always walked alongside diverse neighborhoods in Indianapolis. ROW’s collective was established to engage community members in traditionally underserved areas of our city to lift their voices and power, to connect the resources available from its influential leadership and improve the waterway-adjacent spaces for all. Through the efforts of many community leaders, there have been incremental strides reached, but still, systems were not changing at the rate needed to create a truly, authentically inclusive and just Indianapolis. Then, in 2020, as our community and nation began reckoning with 400 years of systems that have benefitted white people at the expense of people of color.

ROW has for years worked to build equity into its mission, values and actions as it worked alongside communities. But, recent events led ROW to more closely examine who is at the table, who is given voice, who is making decisions, and who has access to funding and other resources. What has become obvious is that it is not just enough to talk about or be well-intentioned towards equity, diversity, inclusion and justice. It is instead time to stand firmly against the injustices of the past that persist today and for ROW to become a fully anti-racist collective.

Last year, ROW’s Steering Committee created the Racial Equity Subcommittee, which has worked for the past year to bring awareness and education to its leadership group. Monthly, ROW partners facilitated dialogs around race and equity. ROW’s leadership was encouraged to participate in training opportunities to help their own organizations along the journey towards anti-racism, and many members did so. In March 2021, attending an intensive anti-racist training program became a requirement of serving on our Steering Committee. If we are to advance as a collective, everyone needs to understand and speak a common language around race, acknowledge a common history that brought us to this moment, and work together towards common goals to help bring down racist systems of the past. 

Now ROW desires to help not just our leadership, but also expand these important ideals as broadly as possible throughout our collective, our neighborhoods, our city and our watershed. We are creating tools and toolkits to help our leadership, partners, funders, staff, community members, volunteers and others along the journey towards anti-racism.

Our first step is to help you find some training opportunities that we believe can be beneficial, no matter where you are on this path.

Training Resources:

Thanks to ROW’s Racial Equity Subcommittee and the Central Indiana Community Foundation for helping us advance this important work in Indianapolis. Visit this page in the future for more information and resources. If you’d like to join us in or help mold our Racial Equity efforts, please contact us at [email protected].

Other Resources:

The River Network has created an Equitable Infrastructure Toolkit.

US Water Alliance has resources about water equity. 

If you have resources or thoughts to share, please reach out to us at [email protected].