Health by Design

We’re thrilled to share that applications for the Weaver Awards are now open! This partnership with and the Aspen Institute will help Health by Design celebrate and support the everyday neighbors who are building trust, belonging, and connection right here in Marion County.

A local advisory group will select 20 recipients to receive $2,500 or $5,000 each and resources to support their work to foster connection. We can’t wait to help shine a light on the people who make our community stronger.

If you are a weaver - or know someone who is - you can apply or make a nomination by September 4, 2026.

You can get more information, apply for an award, or recommend a neighbor at https://awards.weavers.org/en/centralin/2026 .
Weave: The Social Fabric Project The Aspen Institute Health by Design

It's WEAVE WEDNESDAY!

Think about who shows up in your neighborhood. The person who organizes the cleanup, checks in on people, makes the place feel like home. You probably already have a name in your head.

Nominate them for a Weave: The Social Fabric Project Award. Health by Design and the Aspen Institute are honoring 20 people and groups across Marion County who are building trust and connection where they live. Winners get a $2,500 or $5,000 grant plus support to put it to work.

Nominations close August 17. Applications are due September 4.

Thanks to our friends at Mirror Indy for helping spread the word.

Help recognize Indy neighbors who put in the work Health by Design and the Indianapolis Neighborhood Resource Center are each taking nominations for residents who do good.

Twenty years. Twenty stories. We want yours.

For the past 20 years, Health by Design has worked alongside partners, advocates, and communities to build healthier, more connected places across Indiana. To mark our 20th Anniversary, we're launching 20 Stories for 20 Years, a campaign about the people and moments that shaped how we got here.

Maybe you worked with us last year. Maybe you were around at the very beginning. Either way, we want to hear from you.

Tell us your story through the form below. We'll use what you share to help build our anniversary celebration, and your reflection may show up on our website, our social channels, our anniversary materials, or at the celebration event itself.

Thank you for helping us celebrate two decades of designing healthier communities. Please submit your story by October 1st.

Share your story: https://forms.cloud.microsoft/r/i2usFX0F2C

📬 READ OUR LATEST newsletter https://conta.cc/4pP1lu5 A few highlights:

🏘️ The 2026 Weave: The Social Fabric Project Awards are open. Nominate a neighbor who holds your community together, or apply yourself.

👏 A well-earned send-off for Pete Fritz, FAICP, PLA. Happy retirement, Pete, and thank you for everything you've done for a walkable, bikeable Hoosier state!

🛣️ Congress is weighing a transportation bill that spends more on highways and less on the streets people walk and bike. Here's how to weigh in.

� Only 0.3% of Marion County commuters bike to work as their primary mode.

What factors influence who bikes to work, and who doesn't?

Join Esmé Barniskis from The Polis Center as she shares insights from her latest analysis of bicycle ridership, safety, and infrastructure trends in Marion County. Together, we'll explore who is riding, where safety concerns exist, and what the data can tell us about opportunities for improving mobility across our community.

� Aug. 13, 2026 | 6–7:30 p.m.
� Indianapolis Public Library – Central Library
� Free | 21+

Register today: https://savi.org/event/data-drafts-bike-use-trends-in-marion-county/

The Indiana State Fairgrounds & Event Center 🎡 is around the corner with its opening day Aug. 7! And the BRT (Best Ride in Town) to get there is the BRT — Purple Line! It drops you off at the fair entrance. 🚌 So, don't plan around parking...plan around fun!

Thanks to AARP Indiana for bringing their walk audit workshop to our offices on Friday, and to everyone who came out. A walk audit is a simple thing with real weight. You walk a stretch of street and document what’s not working, the missing crosswalk, the sidewalk you can’t get a stroller down, the intersection where drivers don’t slow. That record is what moves a problem from frustration to something the city can act on.

The Indianapolis Department of Public Works joined us to show where those findings can go. Their Community Powered Infrastructure program helps neighborhood groups partner with the city on fixes in the public right-of-way, whether that’s a cost-shared capital project through INIP or a quicker, lower-cost change through the Tactical Urbanism program. DPW also shared how this work ties into Vision Zero, the city’s goal of eliminating traffic deaths and serious injuries.

If your block has a spot that’s always felt unsafe, a walk audit is where it starts: https://www.aarp.org/livable-communities/getting-around/aarp-walk-audit-tool-kit-english.html