Reconnecting to Our Waterways (ROW) announced today a new $250,000 grant over two years from the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust (the Trust) as one of 17 Partners for the White River (PFTWR) organizations working together to improve the water quality, access and awareness about the White River watershed. ROW will use the important funds to support work in waterway-adjacent neighborhoods, especially marginalized neighborhoods along the White River and its five tributaries within Marion County – Central Canal, Fall Creek, Little Eagle Creek. Pleasant Run and Pogue’s Run.
The funding allows ROW to support long-standing efforts in these neighborhoods, but also expand its reach into new areas of Indianapolis. ROW will begin a Citizens Science component, expand it’s In the Know with ROW series, and increase coordination of communications and metrics among all the PFTWR.
“ROW is a collective that works to bring people and resources together to help neighborhoods realize their dream projects, to make the connection to their local waterways and increase care of these natural resources,” said Julie L Rhodes, Collective Impact Director for ROW. “We are grateful that the Pulliam Trust’s investments over the past three years enabled ROW to walk alongside communities in developing unique ways to bring residents at or on our waterways,” Rhodes continued. “Today’s grant award brings even more opportunities for residents, businesses and organizations to engage and connect. In our work, ROW seeks to lift up our marginalized neighbors, especially its Black, Indigenous and People of Color, to ensure equitable access to safe natural spaces for all.
“ROW and fellow Partners for the White River are collectively conserving and improving the White River and providing opportunities for Hoosiers to feel connected to their waterways,” said Gene D’Adamo, president and CEO, Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust. “It’s when we feel connected to and value something that we are more apt to act on its behalf. We hope that ever greater numbers of Hoosiers will feel the pull to care for our White River.”
Over the past three years, the Trust’s support allowed ROW to create opportunities for 4632 volunteers, host 11 river paddles, facilitate 11 waterway tours (bike, walking and bus), conduct 12 educational events, and leveraged nearly $720,000 in additional resources.
“The Pulliam Trust is investing critical resources today to ensure vibrant, healthy, nurturing waterway and drinking water assets into the future,” said Rhodes. “We are proud to be a ‘Pulliam Partner’ in that effort and to bring those resources to Indy’s waterway neighborhoods.”
About ROW: Reconnecting to Our Waterways (ROW) is a collective impact initiative that has worked purposefully since 2012 to change the quality of life and ecology along Indianapolis waterways and surrounding neighborhoods. ROW has been able to convene community partners to enhance quality of life through innovation, analysis, cultural advancement and investment along Indy waterways and neighborhoods. ROW focuses on six of Indianapolis’s main waterways: Fall Creek, Pogue’s Run, Pleasant Run, White River, Little Eagle Creek and the Central Canal. ROW has received generous financial support from a variety of sources, including the Central Indiana Community Foundation and the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust. For a schedule of upcoming meetings or for more information, visit OurWaterways.org, Facebook.com/OurWaterways or Twitter @OurWaterways.
About the Trust: Since the Trust began its grant making in 1998, it has awarded more than $331 million to 1,005 organizations in its home states of Indiana and Arizona. For more information about the Trust and its programs visit www.ninapulliamtrust.org.