City of Seymour Backs Thrive Alliance Senior Housing Development
From the Seymour Tribune: http://www.tribtown.com/2019/06/12/city-backs-senior-housing-development/

3^rd Annual Thrive Alliance Pickleball Tournament raises more than $4,500

Columbus, IN-More than 75 participants played a total of 119 matches in Thrive Alliance’s third annual Pickleball Tournament fundraiser. The event, held this past Friday, Saturday and Sunday at Central Middle School in downtown Columbus attracted Competitive and Recreational Pickleball players from throughout the Midwest. Events included a Corporate Challenge on Friday, Men’s and Women’s Doubles on Saturday and Mixed Doubles on Sunday. The event was supported by members of the Columbus Pickleball Club and corporate sponsors, NTN, Faurecia, Interim Healthcare, Voelz Law Office, Home Helpers LLC, SIHO Insurance Services, Zeller Insurance, DLZ, Bridges of Indiana and Papa’s Grill. The event raised more than $4,500 to support Thrive Alliance services.

A summary of the event, including winners can be found at: https://www.smore.com/14gv6

 June 4, 2019

Nashville, IN—Thrive Alliance, in partnership with Mill Race Center, Help At Home LLC and the Brown County Public Library, is offering a six-week program of educational sessions for Caregivers. These sessions will be held each Tuesday from July 9 through August 13 from 4:00 to 5:30 p.m. at the Brown County Public Library, 205 Locust Lane in Nashville. The program is made possible through funding by Brown County Foundation.

Trainers Shelby Eggers, Christina Rajanayakam and Leah Boas will provide sessions on a number of topics aimed at helping Caregivers learn methods for ensuring they are taking care of themselves along with meeting their caregiving obligations. Help At Home LLC will provide care for loved ones during the six-week program. A light dinner will also be provided.

Registration is required. Please call (812) 372-6918 or email [email protected] to register by July 1.

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Thrive Alliance serves the residents of Bartholomew, Brown, Decatur, Jackson, and Jennings counties.  Our services focus on helping older adults and individuals with disabilities remain safe and independent in their own home as long as possible. Our services also include providing safe and affordable housing for low income individuals and families.

Thrive Alliance
1531 13^th St.
Columbus, IN 47201
www.thrive-alliance.org

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Columbus, IN—One in nine people over 65 years of age have dementia, and about one-half of people over 85 have some form of dementia. It is estimated that these numbers will continue to increase to 1 in 6 in the next 20 years. In response to this escalating statistic, Thrive Alliance is leading the charge to create dementia-friendly communities throughout Bartholomew County. Following the prescribed protocols of Dementia Friendly Indiana, Thrive Alliance, in collaboration with multiple community partners, is leading an effort for Bartholomew County to join the many communities across the state that are also preparing for the increasing numbers of people living with dementia. “By facilitating education and planning for individuals, businesses, and organizations in every sector of the community to become dementia friendly, we will work together to serve and support individuals with dementia and their caregivers,” states Mark Lindenlaub, Executive Director of Thrive Alliance. The Dementia Friendly America initiative is a multi-sector, nation-wide collaboration of more than 35 leading organizations catalyzing a movement and set of best practices to foster “dementia friendly” communities across the United states. By becoming a dementia friendly community, we will:

•  Raise awareness of and develop respect and inclusion of individuals with dementia,
•  Offer services and resources throughout all areas of the community to ensure meaningful access to services that will enhance quality of life,
•  Support and educate dementia partners and families from diagnosis through the disease progression, and
•  Promote meaningful engagement in community life.

To join the movement, we are inviting the community to a kick-off event to learn more about the Dementia Friendly Bartholomew County initiative. The kick-off event will be held May 15 from 11:00 am to 11:00 am in the auditorium of the Columbus Learning Center. Attendees will learn what we have done and we plan to do to actively improve our communities’ capabilities to support those living with dementia or caring for someone living with dementia. Dementia-friendly practices optimize the health, well-being, and involvement of those living with dementia and their care partners. All are welcome at the free public event. No registration is required, but RSVP’s are encouraged. For more information about Dementia Friendly America, please call Thrive Alliance at 812-372-6918.

Thrive Alliance serves the residents of Bartholomew, Brown, Decatur, Jackson, and Jennings counties. Our services focus on helping older adults and individuals with disabilities remain safe and independent in their own homes for as long as possible. Our services also include providing safe and affordable housing for low-income individuals and families.

Columbus, IN–A historic Franklin Street senior apartment building, known as The Armory, has completed a major renovation with updated residences, unique aging-in-place features, and solar panels. The cost of the renovation was over 1 million dollars, through grants from Indiana Housing and Community Development and Prosperity Indiana.

Thrive Alliance headed the 18-month renovation with changes to the apartment units including solar panels on the roof, anti-slip vinyl flooring grab bars in the bathroom area, round edge counter tops, water conserving faucets and showers, and a restroom in the common area. “This renovation could not of happened it if were not for the 3,600 plus volunteer hours,” states Kevin Johnson, Director of Housing at Thrive Alliance.

The Armory, built in 1925, was purchased by Housing Partnerships, Inc., dba Thrive Alliance in 1995 and has 25 units for low-income senior citizens. “All seniors deserve a safe, affordable, and accessible environment,” states Mark Lindenlaub, Executive Director of Thrive Alliance.
The community is invited to attend an open house and ribbon cutting conducted by the Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce and Thrive Alliance at 624 Franklin St., Columbus, on May 7, 2019 from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m..

Thrive Alliance serves the residents of Bartholomew, Brown, Decatur,
Jackson, and Jennings counties. Our services focus on helping older
adults and individuals with disabilities remain safe and independent in their
own homes for as long as possible. Our services also include providing
safe and affordable housing for low-income individuals and families.

Columbus, IN–After a 12-year appeal process, on June 29, 2018, the Indiana Board of Tax Review (IBTR) issued its final determination, stating that Housing Partnerships, Inc.’s (HPI) ownership of scattered-site housing qualifies for property tax exemption. The county assessor’s office has decided to appeal the IBTR’s decision.

The cost of the assessor’s appeal on the community will be significant. HPI may be forced by this delay to sell an additional 11 affordable homes to pay off debt taken out to pay the county for taxes which should never have been collected. These home sales will not only further decrease the availability of affordable housing in our community, but will also displace 11 families (15 adults, 12 children) with an average income of $26, 695.

More significantly, seven of these families are single-parent homes with a total of 9 children and an average income of $21 270. These families will struggle to find affordable housing that will meet their budgetary needs based on their income. In addition, both HPI and the county (the taxpayers) will incur additional legal expenses because of this appeal.

The shortage of safe, affordable housing in Columbus has been documented for decades. Each day that this chronic housing shortage affects our community, some families are unable to pay for basic needs due to high housing costs, move out of domestic violence situations, successfully overcome addictions, or transition to the community from institutional facilities.

During these crises, people are unable to contribute their skills and talents to our community, and our entire community is diminished as a result. HPI has been the answer for people in all of these situations, yet the safe, affordable housing they need may be in jeopardy because of the latest appeal from our county assessor.

Since 1989, HPI, now part of Thrive Alliance, has worked alongside local elected officials, local business, and hundreds of volunteers to build safe, affordable, and decent housing in and around Columbus. Working together, HPI has attracted over $14 million in grants and an estimated $35 million in private investments and has created over 500 safe, affordable homes. These homes have served lower-income families and residents with special-needs including seniors, people with disabilities, survivors of domestic violence, single-parent families, and families affected by addiction.

HPI has been able to support these families and others because of the 2002 and 2004 determinations by the Bartholomew County Assessor that HPI’s rental housing program qualified for property tax exemption. In reliance on that determination, HPI in good faith made long-term investments in safe, affordable, and decent housing.

In 2006, the Assessor reversed the previous determinations and the county began collecting taxes on HPI properties, destroying the financial model HPI was locked into. HPI’s only logical course of action was to appeal the exemption denial. During the lengthy appeals process, HPI was forced for the first time in its history to sell homes to meet the tax burden, and has taken out extensive loans to pay the large tax debt that has been collected by the county.

Finally, in 2018, IBRT issued a final determination concluding that “HPI proved that its scattered-site housing was owned and exclusively occupied and used for charitable purposes” and ordered that “HPI be granted an exemption for those parcels for each year under appeal.” “HPI has proven that our rental program does, in fact, qualify for property tax exemption as the county assessor’s office originally determined,” states Mark Lindenlaub, Executive Director. “I hope the county assessor will reconsider the decision to appeal. If they decide to accept the tax board’s decision, we can continue to work together to increase, rather than decrease, safe affordable housing in Columbus.”