A MORAL ISSUE:
Payday Lenders Gouge Borrowers with Rates As High as 391% APR
In 2021, Marion County payday loan borrowers paid more than $8.7 million in interest on their loans. If a 36 percent rate cap had been in effect, the cost to those borrowers would have totaled about $876 thousand, a reduction of $7.8 Million and about 10 percent of what they had to pay.
Then, in 2022, the Indiana General Assembly granted payday lenders an exemption to both Indiana's interest rate cap of 36 percent and the criminal loansharking limit of 72% APR.
Effective January 2023, they raised the loan limit and continued to allow lenders to charge rates as high as 391% Annual Percentage Rate (APR).
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Payday lenders have drained over $300 million in finance charges from Hoosier families and communities in the past five years.
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There are 262 payday loan stores in Indiana, and 86% are owned out-of-state.
- Payday stores are mostly located in areas of low-income and communities of color.
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The typical payday loan borrower has an annual income of just over $19,000 and re-borrows eight to ten times, with fees equaling more than the original loan.
As most of us know, these small loans are aimed at those with an urgent need and a very low income. Gouging them with exorbitant interest rates does not reflect the will of Hoosier voters, of which 90% support a 36% APR cap. This is not a partisan issue. It is a moral issue that hurts our most vulnerable citizens. Read More Here!
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PAID TO TRAIN!
Partnering with Catapult
Good Pay, Big Future
Conexus' Indiana’s Catapult program provides critical job training allowing participants to qualify for better jobs at higher wage rates. The 160-hour program pays participants $15 per hour as they learn through classroom work and hands-on simulations. UNITE INDY's Lamon Rush strongly recommends the Catapult program to our Second Chance Indy reentrants and he recently made a visit to a Catapult class to learn more from Bob McQuern, the Director of Catapult’s adult education program.
The program is not just for reentrants. It is available to unemployed and underemployed adults as well as high school students. But programs like this don’t exist in a vacuum—they need a stream of motivated and interested prospects to take advantage of their training. In the last month six new Catapult students have enrolled from our Second Chance Indy site. With partners like Conexus/Catapult, we are able to help reentrants move in a direction that will set them up for a stable future, as they find the perfect job from one of the 18 employers ready to hire Catapult's graduates. Check out Catapult training Here!
Pictured are: UNITE INDY's Lamon Rush, Catapult's Adult Eduction Director Bob McQuern, and Instructors, Megan Martindale and Christy Linn
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JULY JOB FAIR!
Indiana's OPHS
Teams with UNITE INDY
The City of Indianapolis Office of Public Health & Safety has joined with our Second Chance Indy job acquisition effort for reentrants who are unemployed or under-employed. The fair will host businesses looking for employees and service-providers to support those who may need help with clothing, legal assistance, food acquisition, and more.
Employers who would like to find good employees on July 26th, email UI's Scott Whiting NOW!
Everything we do is to help those who live in poverty in Indiana due to joblessness associated with a criminal record. Our goal is to assist reentrants to find and keep good jobs that pay a living wage, on which they can build a solid economic foundation for the future. We train, we connect, and we deliver to and from many job sites!
Reentrant job seekers: Come to the Bonner Center at 2236 E. 10th Street, Indianapolis, 10am to 2pm on July 26, 2023! No registration needed.
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WORKING TOGETHER:
UNITE INDY's Not-For-Profit Partner, iNDY Network Calls A Meeting
Last week, Chad Temple of the iNDY Network coordinated a meeting of like-minded organizations at Volumod's P30 community center at 30th and Post Road. iNDY Network's Chad Temple encouraged all to get out of their 'silos' and work together on projects that will benefit areas of our city in strife. Scott Whiting and Jim Cotterill attended for UNITE INDY, along with a dozen representatives of organizations focused on meeting needs, improving neighborhoods, and raising healthier, more prepared children in our city.
UNITE INDY and our Second Chance Indy website is committed to giving those reentering society after incarceration the opportunity to find solid employment, which tremendously impacts poverty in our poorest neighborhoods.
Attending were, Church of the Living Water: Pastor Kent Grimes & Derek Brown; A Dwelling Place: Dawn Dunkman & Emily Williams; Trinity Church: Pastor Mike Schultz; Lakeview Church: Pastors Drew Bontrager & Tony Gilmore; Land Stewards Design Group: David Counsell. iNDY Network partners in attendance: McCordsville Community Church: Pastor Steve Jones; God’s Grace Community Church: Bishop Steven Thompson; Grace Assembly: Braden Murray; Habitat for Missions: Wayne Richards and UNITE INDY'S Jim Cotterill & Scott Whiting.
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ZERO RECIDIVISM?
Jobs For Life Grads Working Toward a Better Future
Last year we conducted our first Jobs For Life class made up entirely of women under supervision in a court-ordered recovery program. Some of them fought the idea of taking the course, but were lovingly persuaded to take part. Those who were highly skeptical seemed to change their attitudes the most through the weeks spent with trainers and mentors. Our thanks to Instructors Scott Whiting and Doug Evans, and all the great mentors, who so generously gave their time and support.
This is the reward:
Trish – Found employment and has moved into a certified shift management role with McDonalds. She also graduated from the Blue River Career Center’s high school diploma equivalency program.
Cassie – Found employment in home healthcare with Quality Living Solutions and has received a promotion.
Brittany – Enrolled at the Blue River Career Center and is working towards her GED. She gained employment at two different employers and is working towards a peer recovery coach certification.
Darla – Found employment as a care-taker with Seniors Helping Seniors and has taken on more clients.
Angie – Enrolled in school at Ivy Tech and has gained her certified logistics technician certification from the Manufacturing Standards Counsel.
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WE CAN DO SO MUCH BETTER:
77% Return to Jail or Prison
Indiana's Department of Correction (IDOC) reports county recidivism numbers here at between 30-50%, numbers that challenged a highly accurate national study that reported U.S. recidivism rates at 77%. Either Indiana was doing an unbelievable job at reentry, or something was off. A little digging revealed that IDOC only counts returning prisoners to Indiana prisons from Indiana prisons. Those in and out of county jails are not included. Those who come in from other state or federal prisons or leave and enter other state or federal prisons are not counted either. (IDOC has no access to county jail and out of state data, so that is clearly where the discrepancy lies.) Still, the recidivism numbers as reported are pretty much meaningless.
Why bring it up? Well, Indiana taxpayers are spending about $1 Billion every year to pay for incarceration. There is a better way to handle reentry and we can cut both costs and the hardship of recidivism on individuals and families by changing the futures of reentrants.
The studies that reported the 77 percent recidivism rate also revealed that re-incarceration is highest soon after release, with 43 percent being re-incarcerated during the first year. Yet the Manhattan Institute study showed a remarkable 90 percent decline in recidivism when a reentrant gets a good-paying job soon after release.
Violent crime here is high, and children of prisoners are FIVE times more likely to be incarcerated themselves, so we are multiplying the number of prospective prisoners with every generation. But we can change the future by mentoring, providing job training, job connections, and reliable transportation to work for reentrants. Read More!
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Why Support UNITE INDY?
Our major focus is to assist the 12,000 inmates returning to Central Indiana after long-term jail sentences. UNITE INDY provides mentored job training inside the jail, and a website for those with a criminal record, SecondChanceIndy.com, filled with job openings offered by our Second Chance employer partners.
These jobs are powerful weapons with which to fight poverty in our neighborhoods.
How You Can Support Jobs for Justice- Involved Individuals
3. Please donate to UNITE INDY now. There are a number of choices that are all secure and safe. By sending your fully tax deductible gift* now we can have a greater impact meeting needs in our community in 2021
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Support of Ministries and Charities:
Remember, almost 1 out of every 3 children in Indianapolis lives below the poverty level, yet even in the aftermath of the COVID shut down, as our economy comes back to life and employment is returning, all this good news stops at the lines surrounding many of our inner city neighborhoods. In some neighborhoods of Marion County unemployment is now 21%, and poverty remains the overwhelming divider of people.
Please donate to UNITE INDY now. There are a number of choices that are all secure and safe. By sending your fully tax deductible gift* now we can have a greater impact meeting needs in our community in 2021.
Many, many thanks!
*UNITE INDY, Inc. is approved under Internal Revenue Code (IRC) Section 501(c)(3) as a Public Charity, donors can deduct contributions they make under IRC Section 170.
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Corporate Partners
A big Thank YOU to our Corporate Partners for their unwavering support which makes it possible for us to provide our services at no charge to job applicants and employers!
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