The Evidence is Everywhere…

Celebrating MIBOR’s Centennial has come about in so many ways. Recently I saw another great example of something meaningful and lasting. Every time I think the centennial is just a birthday, a milestone that has come and will soon be gone, I get my wake-up call. At the Chase Legacy Center on the Arsenal Tech High School campus there is one more reminder that so many people came together to create the Building  a Living Legacy project. And of course that project was the philanthropic splash of the entire centennial year. 

On Tuesday, October 30^th, it was rainy, cold and windy. Not the ideal setting for an outdoor reception. So inside we went to unveil a unique sculpture that now stands just outside the garden at the Legacy Center. The sculpture is colorful and dynamic just like the Near Eastside neighbors of Indianapolis it represents. On one side, the names of the most generous Building  a Living Legacy donors are embedded in  clay and mosaic tiles – designed by local artist Jude Odell and created by elementary, middle and high school students. The other three sides celebrate the renewed spirit of the Near Eastside brought about by the completion of many elements of the area’s Quality of Life Plan and of course the 2012 Super Bowl and its Housing Legacy Project.     

Bill Hacker

A few people spoke at the brief reception including Odell and one of the high schoolers who volunteered. Bill Hacker from the Building  a Living Legacy campaign cabinet also spoke quite emotionally and eloquently about what the project has meant to him and how helping families make better lives for themselves strikes at the heart of what real estate professionals care most about. It was a fantastic reminder that because of so many partners and donors, 32 families have fresh starts and are free from the insecurity and uncertainty of homelessness.

The piece itself is beautiful and tells a story. It’s made up of more than 800 mosaic pieces. It’s been fired countless times to withstand the elements. It will last. You should check it out. 

Claire Belby
MIBOR Communications Director