Center for Working Families Adds Eighth Indianapolis Location

The Center for Working Families (CWF) program began in 2010 to help struggling families get back on their feet. Since then, seven Indianapolis community centers have become CWF locations where services provided by the program can be delivered to those in need. Now, an eighth location has opened on the city’s east side. 

The Community Alliance of the Far Eastside, or CAFÉ, is the newest location. It will offer services such as job placement assistance and financial literacy education to families in its service area, which stretches east from Shadeland Avenue to County Line Road, says CAFÉ Executive Director Melissa Drew.  

"It’s a program that works to move families toward realizing goals that they've set for themselves, whether that be homeownership, education attainment, a better job," says Drew. "So anybody who lives in our community is privy to these services."

The United Way of Central Indiana is providing $700,000 in financial support to the center as part of its goal to reduce financial instability among Central Indiana families. It has also provided funding to other locations. The Indianapolis Foundation and the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) have also helped the center get up and running.

LISC Executive Director Bill Taft says CAFÉ will work with families through a long-term program that’s proven successful at other CWF locations.

"It’s a coaching model where people are expected to be responsible for change in their own lives, but where they’re supported in that with a variety of tools to make one small step at a time to make large change over time," Taft says.

The United Way says the program has helped more than 10,000 Indianapolis residents since its creation in 2010.