The following is a press release written by Sarah Duis for the IU Center of Rural Engagement.
The Indiana University Center for Rural Engagement will launch its Sustaining Hoosier Communities partnership with Brown County on Thursday, Aug. 27, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at The Seasons Lodge Event Center, 560 State Road 46, Nashville, IN.
The event is free to attend and open to the public, and refreshments will be served. Those planning to attend should RSVP at go.iu.edu/shcbckickoff.
Sustaining Hoosier Communities (SHC) pairs rural Indiana communities with IU faculty, students, and staff to advance locally identified projects that strengthen the health, prosperity, and vitality of the region.
IU faculty and staff have paired 18 IU Bloomington courses with 14 community-identified projects, with more to come throughout the academic year. IU students will collaborate with Brown County organizations and leaders on projects that include exploring the feasibility of a family-oriented splash pad and water-play facility at the local YMCA, strengthening an emerging community paramedicine program through funding strategies and financial modeling, expanding the capacity of the Brown County Studio Tour to support the local arts ecosystem, and capturing the county’s landscape through plein air painting at the T.C. Steele State Historic Site.
Additional project focus areas include outdoor recreation and youth programming, community theater for older adults, food security, public health education, emergency services, community infrastructure, housing, pedestrian accessibility, business and marketing strategies, local history, literacy, public space activation, habitat restoration, and AI literacy for youth and families.
Brown County partners include county and municipal agencies, schools, health care providers, arts and cultural institutions, community foundations, youth-serving organizations, and local nonprofits. Participating organizations include Quality of Life Group - Brown County Indiana, the Brown County Health Department, Brown County Schools, the Town of Nashville, the Brown County Community Foundation, the Brown County Convention & Visitors Bureau, the Brown County Art Gallery, the Brown County Playhouse, the Brown County Historical Society, the YMCA of South Central Indiana, Access Brown County, Brown County Habitat for Humanity, and other local arts, recreation, nonprofit, and community organizations.
IU schools, centers, and programs involved in the projects include The Media School, Kelley School of Business, Center for Real Estate Studies, School of Public Health-Bloomington, College of Arts and Sciences, Paul H. O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture + Design, Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering, IU RedLab, the Rural Placemaking Studio, and the Rural Scholars Program.
For more information about Sustaining Hoosier Communities, including past projects and partnerships, visit shc.indiana.edu.
