Since 1911, the Mary Rigg Neighborhood Center has demonstrated a strong record of working together with community support to deliver human services to the urban, West Indianapolis area, the oldest suburb of Indiana’s capital city.

IUPUI and the Center have worked together for over 20 years during which time they have been co-educators to thousands of students who have tutored, mentored, and developed programs such as personal fitness training, and helped provide access to living wage certificate programs. But their crowning achievement and the one with the deepest, most interconnected relationship with IUPUI and its faculty, students, and staff is the reopening of George Washington Community School and its feeder schools in 2000.

The Center works with students in multiple disciplines and is able to work with them in multiple roles. This collaboration has contributed to the quality of life for area residents and helped provide them with employment, life skills, workforce development, out-of-school-time youth programs, education initiatives, housing, and utilities. More than that, the partnership between Mary Rigg Neighborhood Center and IUPUI provides a vital bond between town and gown, a reciprocal relationship built on history, trust, compassion, and a shared goal of improving lives while helping students grow into learned advocates for social justice.